t 


. 

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r4Yi\YH: 


■  .  '■ 


PATRIARCH  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  The  ecclesiastical  head  of  the 
Armenians  is  the  Catholicos  residing  at  Etchmiadzine,  in  the  Caucasus.  Of  the 
same  rank  are  the  Catholicos  of  Aghtamar  (near  Van)  and  the  Catholicos  of  Sis, 
in  Cilicia.  Next  come  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem,  the 
former  taking  precedence  as  the  civil  head  of  the  Armenians  in  Turkey. 


TURKEY 

AND 

THE  ARMENIAN  ATROCITIES 


A  REIGN  OF  TERROR. 

FROM  TARTAR  HUTS  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE  PALACES. 

CENTURIES  OF  OPPRESSION— MOSLEM  AND  CHRISTIAN— SULTAN 
AND  PATRIARCH— BROKEN  PLEDGES  FOLLOWED 
BY  MASSACRE  AND  OUTRAGE. 

THE  RED  CROSS  TO  THE  RESCUE. 


BY  THE 

Rev.  EDWIN  MUNSELL  BLISS, 

Late  of  Constantinople, 

Editor  of  Encyclopedia  of  Missions;  Assistant  Editor  of  The  Independent, 

ASSISTED  BY 

The  Rev.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  D.  D.,  Founder  of  Robert  College;  Prof.  E.  A.  Grosvenor,  of  Amherst 
College;  Rev.  Benjamin  Labaree,  D.  D.,  late  of  Persia,  and  Other  Eminent  Oriental 
Scholars;  also  Several  Eye-Witnesses  of  the  Massacres. 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

Miss  Frances  E.  Willard. 


FULLY  ILLUSTRATED. 


EDGEWOOD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


Copyrighted,  1896,  by  M.  J.  COGHLAN. 


INTRODUCTION. 


WE  need  a  new  angle  of  vision  on  the  martyrdoms  in  Armenia. 

Let  us  suppose  that  we  had  never  heard  anything  about 
them  and  that  on  next  Sunday  morning,  in  our  respective 
churches,  our  respective  pastors  should  come  forward  with  a  statement 
like  the  following  : — 

Near  the  foot  of  a  famous  mountain  there  lived  1 500  years  ago,  in  a  little 
country  about  400  miles  square,  a  people  numbering,  perhaps,  3,000,000. 
In  the  turmoil  of  the  centuries  they  had  been  scattered  until  their  ances¬ 
tral  valleys  and  mountain  slopes  have  largely  passed  into  other  hands. 
They  still  preserve,  however,  the  racial  characteristics  of  that  early  time, 
and  look  back  with  intense  yearning  to  that  olden  time  and  those 
familiar  places. 

In  face,  figure  and  bearing,  they  are  remarkably  attractive.  It  is  said 
that  their  personal  resemblance  to  the  supposed  physical  type  of  our 
Lord  is  probably  more  striking  than  that  of  any  other  race.  In  the 
simplicity  of  their  faith  and  the  earnestness  of  their  character,  these 
people  are  reminders  of  the  early  Christian  Church.  The  bravery  of 
their  men  and  the  chastity  of  their  women  are  proverbial.  They 
cherish  the  Bible  as  the  most  precious  of  their  possessions  and  guard 
it  all  the  more  sacredly  when  to  do  so  involves  the  hazard  of  their 
lives.  They  are  unarmed  and  do  harm  to  none,  they  only  seek  to  tend 
their  flocks,  till  their  fields,  and  conduct  their  trade  in  quietness  and 
peace. 

Their  country  is  controlled  by  a  rich  and  powerful  potentate  of 
another  race,  who  with  his  court  and  his  army  would  be  neither  cruel 
nor  vindictive  except  for  their  religion.  They  are  Mohammedans  and 

(0 


2 


INTRODUCTION. 


have  been  taught  for  centuries  that  a  Christian  slain  was  the  surest 
passport  to  the  favor  of  God  and  the  enjoyment  of  eternal  happiness. 
Under  the  insane  spell  of  this  awful  fanaticism,  they  have  come  down 
like  wolves  on  the  gentle  Christian  people  under  their  sway,  and  within 
the  last  year  have  slaughtered  men,  women  and  children  without  mercy, 
not  for  any  wrong  that  they  have  done,  but  only  because  they  are 
Christians.  Their  villages  and  homes  have  been  burned  to  the  ground 
and  such  ingenuity  of  torture  and  outrage  inflicted  upon  them  as  could 
hardly  have  been  excelled  if  the  bottomless  pit  had  vomited  forth  its 
leading  spirits  to  urge  the  battle  on. 

The  cruelty  towards  priests  and  women,  the  two  non-combatant 
classes,  has  been  bitterest  of  all.  Because  the  priest  represented  the 
detested  religion  of  Christ,  he  has  been  not  only  slain  but  mutilated, 
and  the  sign  of  the  cross  cut  in  his  forehead  by  murderous  swords,  and 
because  Mohammedans  believe  before  all  things  in  the  harem  rather 
than  the  home,  a  brutal  soldiery  has  spared  neither  the  wife,  the 
mother,  nor  the  babe  unborn.  Outrages  worse  than  death  have  been 
endured  by  women,  always  preceded  by  the  promise  that  they  would 
be  spared  if  they  would  abjure  their  faith,  but  in  no  instance  have  they 
hesitated  to  face  their  double  agony  rather  than  disclaim  allegiance 
to  the  Cross. 

Now,  in  the  presence  of  such  a  spectacle  as  this,  with  the  martyr¬ 
dom  of  a  devoted  nation  going  forward  under  their  eyes,  the  men  of 
Christendom  have  stood  by  and  watched  these  agonies  j  have  seen  a 
crowd  of  gentle  Christian  women  shut  up  in  a  church  and  undergoing 
a  night  of  outrage  ending  in  murder,  the  streams  of  blood  flowing  out 
under  the  church  doors  j  they  have  stood  by  while  Moslem  savages 
deliberately  disemboweled  Christian  mothers  and  brought  into  a  world 
accursed,  innocent  babes  which  were  taken  on  the  points  of  bayonets 
and  sportively  tossed  to  and  fro ;  they  have  passively  beheld  the  mas¬ 
sacre  of  fifty  thousand  Christian  people  in  the  slowly-rounded  circle  of 
a  year. 

Suppose  that  this  were  said  in  every  Christian  pulpit  next  Sunday  morn- 
ing,  with  what  righteous  anger  and  holy  indignation  would  the  congre¬ 
gation  rise  up  exclaiming :  “  Where  are  these  outrages  ?  Who  are  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


3 


dastards  that  stand  by  watching  the  slow  martyrdom  of  a  nation  whose 
only  fault  is  its  loyalty  to  the  Gospel  that  we  profess  ?  ” 

And  then  should  come  the  answer  that  Nathan  uttered  in  the  face  of 
David :  pointing  to  America,  England,  the  Christian  nations  of  the 
continent  of  Europe,  “  Thou  art  the  man  !  ”  It  is  you  that  are  standing 
by  like  the  traitors  of  old  and  consenting  to  the  death  of  those  who  in 
an  age  of  spiritual  apathy  are  sealing  with  the  blood  of  martyrdom 
their  holy  allegiance  to  “  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.” 

This  is  the  situation :  Armenians  are  the  nation ;  the  Sultan  and  his 
soldiers  are  the  devil’s  scourge  ;  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  the  cold- 
hearted  spectator. 

In  saying  this  I  am  not  upbraiding  any  person  high  in  power,  not 
singling  out  any  nation  as  more  guilty  than  the  rest.  For  in  this  crisis 
mere  criticism  would  be  futile.  What  we  must  have  is  action  ;  united, 
cogent  and  immediate;  we  must  not  stand  upon  the  order  of  our  going, 
but  go  at  once,  drawn  by  the  compulsion  of  what  is  best  and  most 
enduring  in  our  natures,  even  “  the  tie  that  binds  ”  us  to  the  assertion 
and  proof  of  a  common  humanity  and  a  “  like  precious  faith  ”  in 
Christ.  We  have  waited  a  year,  and  now  across  the  horrid  front  of 
war  gleams  the  white  figure  of  a  woman.  Clara  Barton,  the  angel  of 
the  battlefield,  takes  upon  herself  the  heavenly  task  of  going  to  Turkey  to 
represent  the  forces  of  the  Golden  Rule  and  of  the  Home  which  is 
their  outcome. 

In  the  long  and  bloody  annals  of  the  Sultan’s  country,  two  figures 
brighten  the  scene,  two  names  breathe  benediction — Florence  Nightin¬ 
gale  and  Clara  Barton,  the  fairest  flowers  of  English  and  American 
Christianity.  Women  may  well  be  grateful  that  their  sex  has  placed 
in  the  sky  where  the  crescent  is  fading  into  darkness  the  two  brightest 
stars  of  hope  that  shall  glow  in  history’s  constellation. 

Americans  have  given  costly  hostages  to  the  Turk.  No  band  of 
men  and  women  more  heroic  have  lived  since  the  Great  Light  shone 
forth  out  of  Jerusalem,  than  our  Missionaries  in  the  land  of  the 
harem. 

The  record  of  their  danger,  suffering  and  death  is  only  second  to  that 
of  the  beloved  Armenians  whose  devotion  has  rewarded  their  heroic 


4 


INTRODUCTION. 


toil.  Their  colleges  and  schools,  churches  and  hospitals  have  passed 
under  the  withering  blight  of  the  Mohammedan. 

In  the  present  desperate  emergency,  the  work  of  Miss  Kimball  in 
the  devastated  city  of  Van  will  be  chronicled  on  the  fairest  pages  where 
the  bravery  of  Christian  women  is  described. 

The  record  that  follows  is  given  us  by  a  noble  young  American,  the  son 
of  Isaac  G.  Bliss,  D.  D.,  that  statesman-like  Missionary  whose  name  r 
has  been  endeared  to  the  Christian  Church  for  well  nigh  half  a  century 
by  reason  of  his  wise  and  unremitting  labors.  The  appearance  of  this 
book  is  opportune,  and  its  moderation  of  tone  will  commend  it  to  all 
thoughtful  readers.  For  we  do  not  wish  to  hate  the  Turk  or  impale 
him  on  the  point  of  rapier-like  epithets.  He  is  what  the  centuries  have 
made  him,  and  like  Saul  of  Tarsus  who  became  Paul  of  Damascus,  he 
“  verily  thinks  that  he  doeth  God  service.”  Superstition  and  fanaticism 
have  been  in  all  ages  the  most  deadly  foes  of  the  human  race.  Under 
their  withering  breath  the  Armenians  seem  likely  to  be  swept  out  of 
existence.  Surely  such  an  illustration,  surviving  in  a  century  when 
“sweet  reasonableness  ”  and  universal  toleration  have  made  more  rapid 
strides  than  in  any  that  has  preceded  it,  should  nerve  the  will  of  every 
Christian  man  and  woman  to  defend  our  Mission  and  our  Missionaries, 
whose  work  alone  can  disinfect  the  land  of  the  scimitar  from  its  awful 
taint,  and  disintegrate  by  means  of  education  the  public  opinion  that 
prefers  the  harem  to  the  home  and  the  Koran  of  Mohammed  to  the  New 
Testament  of  Christ. 


En  route  in  the  Southern  States , 
January  15,  1896. 


FRANCES  E.  WILLARD. 


PREFACE. 


THE  object  of  this  book  is  not  merely  to  set  forth  the 
situation  in  Turkey  as  it  is  to-day,  but  to  trace  the 
influences  that  have  produced  it.  Those  influences  are  very 
complex.  They  include  the  social  characteristics  of  the  peo¬ 
ples  of  Turkey,  the  religious  beliefs  and  ecclesiastical  customs 
that  have  grown  up  in  the  empire  during  the  past  centuries, 
the  political  ambitions  and  jealousies  of  the  European  Powers, 
and  the  personal  qualities  of  the  different  men  who  have  been 
prominent  in  the  control  of  affairs.  Probably  no  chapter  in 
history  is  more  kaleidoscopic  in  its  character.  To  set  forth 
its  various  phases,  the  topical  rather  than  the  strictly  historical 
form  has  been  adopted.  The  effort  has  been  made  to  let 
each  phase  stand  out  as  clearly  as  possible,  first  in  itself,  and 
then  in  its  relation  to  the  other  phases.  The  contemporary 
historian  is  never  logical.  That  remains  for  those  who,  with 
longer  range,  have  a  better  perspective. 

The  various  histories  of  Turkey  have  been  consulted,  but 
special  acknowledgment  must  be  made  to  “Turkey  Old  and 
New,”  by  Sutherland  Menzies,  which  more  than  any  other 
traces  the  development  of  the  Eastern  Question  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  European  Powers.  “The  Life  of  Lord 


VI 


PREFACE. 


Stratford  de  Redcliffe,”  by  Stanley  Lane  Poole,  “Turkish  Life 
in  War  Time,”  by  Henry  O.  Dwight,  and  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin’s 
books,  “My  Life  and  Times”  and  “Among  the  Turks,”  have 
been  consulted  with  great  advantage.  It  is  a  privilege  not 
less  than  a  duty  to  acknowledge  the  very  efficient  aid  rendered 
by  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  Dr.  Benjamin  Labaree  and  Professor 
E.  A.  Grosvenor.  Dr.  Hamlin’s  vivid  remembrance  of  the 
picturesque  phases  of  Turkish  diplomacy  during  the  reigns 
of  Mahmud  II  and  Abd-ul-Medjid ;  Dr.  Labaree’s  scholarly 
as  well  as  practical  knowledge  of  branches  of  the  Eastern 
Church  which  to  most  are  little  more  than  historic  names; 
Professor  Grosvenor’s  intimate  acquaintance  with,  and  sym¬ 
pathetic  appreciation  of,  the  Greek  life  and  character,  have 
laid  me  under  peculiar  obligations  to  each.  I  must  also 
express  my  thanks  to  those  who  from  the  very  center  of  the 
conflict  have  given  those  sketches  which  describe  so  vividly 
the  terror  of  the  situation.  Some  of  the  letters  appear  for 
the  first  time  on  these  pages  ;  others  have  been  already  given 
to  the  world  in  the  columns  of  The  Independent  and  the  daily 
press.  Their  authors  I  know  well  and  esteem  most  highly 
for  their  great  ability  and  high  character,  which  has  been  most 
nobly  manifest  during  the  trying  scenes  of  the  past  year.  As 
I  write  these  lines  word  has  come  of  the  death  of  one  and  of 
the  critical  condition  of  another.  They  have  been  urged  to 
leave  their  posts,  but  one  and  all  they  have  refused,  with  the 
exception  of  a  very  few  who,  in  their  own  physical  weakness, 
have  felt  that  they  could  not  strengthen  their  associates. 
Turkey  and  Russia  are  banded  together  to  force  them  to 
leave ,  the  former  that  they  may  not  bear  witness  against  the 
evil  done ;  the  latter  that  they  may  not  hinder  the^progress 


PREFACE. 


Vll 


of  that  policy  of  repression  already  applied  to  Evangelical 
thought  throughout  her  empire. 

What  is  in  the  future  no  man  can  tell,  but  the  growth  of 
pure  religion  in  whatever  form  of  church  organization  ;  the 
development  of  freedom  of  thought;  the  attainment  of  civil 
liberty,  and  that  not  merely  for  Armenian,  but  for  Greek, 
Nestorian,  Jacobite,  and  even  for  the  Turk  himself,  depends 
upon  the  continuance  of  the  influences  for  a  higher  life  that 
have  been  at  work  during  the  past  sixty  years,  and  that 
depends  upon  the  missionaries  being  supported  at  their  posts. 
Theirs  is  no  sectarian  work.  They  stand  as  the  friends  of 
Gregorian  Armenians,  Roman  Catholic  Chaldeans,  Nestorians 
and  Jacobites  as  well  as  of  those  in  closer  affiliation  with  the 
Protestant  Churches  of  Europe  and  America.  America 
should  stand  by  them  and  demand  their  full  protection.  It  is 
our  right  by  treaty  ;  it  is  our  right  by  the  duty  we  owe 
humanity,  by  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  tradition  as  a  liberty 
loving  nation.  We  have  no  political  ends  to  serve;  we  want 
not  a  square  foot  of  the  Sultan’s  domains;  but  we  stand,  as 
we  have  always  stood,  for  freedom  for  the  oppressed,  for  the 
right  of  every  man  to  worship  his  God  in  the  light  of  his  own 
conscience. 

New  York  City , 

March  21st,  1896. 


Edwin  Munsell  Bliss. 


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CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Turkish  Empire. 

Geographical  Extent — Topography — Physical  Characteristics — Products — Traveling 

and  Transportation — Building . .  *9 


CHAPTER  II. 

Population  and  Languages. 

Accurate  Statements  as  to  Population  Impossible — No  Census — Best  Available 
Estimates — Distribution — Most  of  the  Races  Described  in  Other  Chapters — Jews 
and  Foreigners — General  Characteristics — The  Languages — How  Distributed — 
Peculiarities  of  the  Turkish — Number  Spoken  in  the  Seaboard  Cities .  37 

CHAPTER  III. 

Religions. 

Islam  and  Christianity — A  Few  Pagan  Communities — Origin  of  Mohammedanism 
—The  Koran— The  Traditions— Extent  of  Islam— Present  Condition— Effect  upon 
the  Turks — Contact  with  Civilization — Sects — Oriental  Christianity — Characteristics  5 1 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Turks. 

Their  Origin — Early  History — General  Characteristics — Good  Qualities — Kindness — 
Hospitality — Temperance — Honesty — Intellectual  Ability — Obedience  to  Rulers 
Bravery — Bad  Characteristics — Indifference  to  Suffering — Brutality — Degradation 
of  Women — Sensuality — Official  Unreliability — F atalism — Insolence — Indolence 
— General  Summary . . . . .  ^6 


(ix) 


X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Kurds. 

Legend  of  the  Serpents — Connected  with  the  Medes — Tribal  Organization — Nomad 
Life— Saladin  and  the  Crusaders — After  the  Russo-Turkish  War — The  Ham- 
idieh  Cavalry — Brutal  Treatment  of  Christians — Arabs — Circassians  and  Other 
Moslem  Subjects — The  Nusairiyeh — Yezidis  and  Druzes .  85 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Armenians. 

Their  Origin — Early  History — First  Nation  to  Accept  Christianity — Dispersion 
Under  Oppression — Change  from  Agricultural  to  Commercial  People — General 
Characteristics;  Loyalty  to  Nation  and  Religion — Industry — Morality — Intellectual 
Ability — Shrewdness — Jealousy  of  One  Another — Influence  of  Missions  and 
European  Ideas — Growth  of  National  Ambition — Armenians  in  Russia — 
Autonomy — Armenians  in  Other  Countries — Patriarch  Mattheos — Outlook  for 
the  Future .  106 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Greeks. 

Fidelity  of  the  Oriental  Churches — The  Apostle  Andrew — Concessions  by  Mohammed 
II — Gennadios  II — Suffering  and  Misery — Greek  Revolution — Growth  of  National 
Spirit — Hellenes  or  Romaioi — Bulgarians  in  their  Relation  to  the  Greek  Church. .  130 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Other  Oriental  Churches. 

The  Syrian  Church  Divided  into  Syrians,  Chaldeans,  Nestorians,  Jacobites,  and 
some  Roman  Catholic  Bodies — The  Jacobites — Patriarch  of  Antioch — Condition 
of  Villagers — Jebel  Tur  Region — Nestorians — Patriarch  of  Babylon — Badir 
Khan  Bey — Chaldeans — The  Copts  of  Egypt — Maronites  and  Druzes .  145 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Rise  and  Decline  of  Ottoman  Power. 

Capture  of  Constantinople — Victories  of  Mohammed  II — The  Sultans  Assume  the 
Caliphate — Reign  of  Suleiman  the  Magnificent — Attack  upon  Venice — Constant 
Strife  over  the  Danubian  Principalities — Internal  Disorganization — Weak  Sultans 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


and  Powerful  Viziers— Alliances  with  Foreign  Powers — Repeated  Disasters— 

Weak  Rule  in  Asia — Revolt  in  Egypt  and  Syria — Condition  at  Commencement 
of  Present  Century .  x^4 

CHAPTER  X. 

Turkey  and  Europe. 

First  Intercourse — Alliance  between  Francis  I  and  Suleiman  the  Magnificent 
Intrigues  between  France  and  Austria — The  First  Treaty  Nature  of  Capitu¬ 
lations — Peculian  Favors  Granted  to  the  French — Their  Recognition  as  the  Pro¬ 
tectors  of  Christians — Entrance  of  Other  Powers — Louis  XIV  and  His  Ambas¬ 
sador — Influence  of  De  Braves — Peace  of  Carlowitz — Turkey  No  Longer  Dreaded 
in  Europe . 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Russia  and  Turkey. 

Aggression  of  Peter  the  Great — Diminution  and  Renewal  of  French  Influence— 

The  Contest  over  the  Holy  Places — Victory  of  Russian  Influence  in  Favor  of  the 
Greek  Church — Russia’s  Religious  Propaganda  Among  the  Greeks — Rise  of 
Phil-Hellenism— Dismemberment  Talked  of— Effect  of  the  French  Revolution— 

The  Russian  Fleet  in  the  Dardanelles— The  English  Fleet  at  Constantinople— 

Peace  of  Tilsit — Plan  for  Partition — Accession  of  Mahmud  II . .  195 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Mahmud  II. 

A  Disintegrating  Empire — An  Energetic  Sultan — Napoleon  and  Alexander — Lord 
Stratford  de  Redcliffe — Greek  War  for  Independence — Russia’s  Perfidy — Destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  Janissaries — Reforms  Attempted — Mehemet  Ali  of  Egypt — Accession 
of  Abd-ul-Medjid .  210 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Reform  and  Progress. 

Reign  of  Abd-ul-Medjid — Influence  of  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe — English 
Policy  in  Turkey — Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhane — A  Remarkable  Document — Equal 
Rights  for  All  Subjects  of  the  Sultan — Land  Tax  and  Judicial  Reform — General 
Situation  of  the  Country — Application  of  the  Reforms .  225 


CONTENTS. 


Xll 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Treaties  of  Paris  and  Berlin. 

Influence  of  Lord  Stratford — The  Holy  Places — Crimean  War — Treaty  of  Paris — 
Abd-ul-Aziz — Extravagance — Influx  of  Europeans — Provincial  Government — 
Accession  of  Abd-ul-Hamid  II — Russo-Turkish  War — Treaty  of  San  Stephano — 
Treaty  of  Berlin — Cyprus  Convention . 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Condition  of  the  Christians. 

The  Christians  under  Early  Moslem  Rule — Mohammed  II — General  Oppression — 
Protection  by  French  Government — Russian  Intrigue — Power  of  the  Greek 
Church — Reforms  under  Mahmud  II  and  Abd-ul-Medjid — The  Hatti  Humayoun — 
General  Improvement  Throughout  the  Empire . . . 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Turkish  Government. 

True  Moslem  State  Theocratic — Dual  Form  of  the  Present  Government — The  Sub¬ 
lime  Porte — Army  and  Navy — Internal  Administration — Financial  Management 
— General  Corruption — Administration  of  Justice — Treatment  of  Christians — The 
Ulema — The  Palace  Party — The  Sultan . 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Protestant  Missions  in  Turkey. 

Early  History — Opposition  of  Ecclesiastics  in  the  Oriental  Churches — Attitude  of  the 
Turkish  Government — Work  Among  Moslems — Development  of  Education — 
Societies  at  Work — The  American  Board — Presbyterian  Boards — American  and 
British  Bible  Societies — English  Societies — General  Statistics — Relations  to  the 
Turkish  Government — Character  of  the  Missionaries . 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


The  Armenian  Question. 


A  Progressive  Grand  Vizier — Victory  of  the  Reactionary  Party — Egypt  and  the 
Mahdi — Rise  of  the  Armenian  Question — Russian  Intrigue — Articles  of  the  Berlin 


CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


Treaty Autonomy  Desired — The  Huntchagist  Committee — Placards  in  Asia 

Minor _ Burning  of  American  Building  at  Marsovan — Numerous  Arrests — 

Armenians  Exiled — Coercive  Measures  of  the  Government— American  Citizens 
—Threats— Huntchagists  Disowned  by  the  Nation— Young  Turkey  Party— Ab¬ 
solute  Failure  of  the  Huntchagist  Movement .  324 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

General  Situation  in  1894. 

Terrible  Oppression — Exaggerated  Reports — Truth  Stranger  Than  Fiction  Re¬ 
ligious  Liberty  Infringed  Upon — Oppressive  School  Laws  Rigorous  Censorship 
—General  Effort  of  the  Government  to  Suppress  Christian  Development .  345 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Sassun  Massacre. 

A  Deliberate  Plan  of  The  Turkish  Government— Kurdish  Raids— Armenians 
Defend  Themselves — Kurds  Reinforced  by  Regular  Troops — Terrible  Scenes  of 
Slaughter — Stories  of  Survivors .  3^ 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Politics  and  Massacre  at  Constantinople. 

Investigation  at  Sassun— Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Situation— Disturbances  in  Constanti¬ 
nople _ Joint  Notes  by  the  Embassies — Plan  of  Reforms — New  English 

Government — Massacre  in  Constantinople — Decisive  Action  of  the  Embassies  - 
Signing  of  the  Reforms— Subsequent  Acts  of  Defiance— Breach  Between 
England  and  Russia— Collapse  of  English  Influence .  384 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Massacres  at  Trebizond  and  Erzrum. 

Importance  and  General  Prosperity  of  Both  Cities — Threats  by  the  Turks  Terror 
Among  the  Armenians — Suddenness  of  the  Attacks — Murder  and  Pillage  by 
Regular  Soldiers,  Under  the  Eye  of  Foreign  Consuls— Ferocity  of  the  Turks 
Testimony  of  Eye- Witnesses— Terrible  Scenes  at  the  Burial  of  the  Victims .  4°6 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Massacres  in  Harput  District. 

American  Residences— First  Indications— Specious  Promises— Riot,  Murder  and 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Pillage — A  Dangerous  Journey — Attempts  at  Defense — List  of  Villages  and 
Details  of  Massacres — Statement  of  a  Turkish  Official — Armenians  not  Respon¬ 
sible — Turkish  Dread  of  Reform — Tabular  Statement .  427 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Aintab,  Marash  and  Urfa. 

The  Situation  in  Northern  Syria — No  Revolutionary  Movement — Massacre  at 
Aintab — Kurdish  Women — A  Turkish  Captain  Helps  the  Pillage — A  Colonel 
Checks  it — Caring  for  the  Wounded — Two  Attacks  at  Marash — Destruction  of 
American  Houses — Brave  Men  in  Zeitun — Story  of  Massacres  at  Urfa  .  447 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Character  of  the  Massacres. 

Massacres  at  Sivas,  Cesarea,  Birejik,  Bitlis,  and  the  Region  of  Mardin — Protection  by 
the  Turkish  Government  for  the  Jacobites — General  Survey — Place  and  Time  of 
the  Massacres — Victims  Exclusively  Armenians — Effort  to  Destroy  the  Strength 
of  the  Nation — Motive — Responsibility  of  the  Turkish  Government  and  of  the 
Sultan . „ .  474 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Religious  Persecution. 

Motive  of  the  Massacres — Primarily  Political,  then  Religious — The  Religious 
Element  Overpowering  the  Political — Dread  of  Christian  Domination — False  State¬ 
ments  by  the  Turkish  Government — Instances  of  Persecution  and  Enforced  Con¬ 
version  to  Islam — A  Tremendous  Moral  Disaster — Efforts  of  the  Government  to 
Suppress  Reports .  482 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Relief  Work. 

The  General  Situation — Absolute  Destitution — Appeals  to  America  and  England — 
Work  in  the  Sassun  Region — Van  and  Dr.  Kimball — Appeals  Following  the 
Greater  Massacres — Clara  Barton  and  the  Red  Cross — Opposition  of  the  Turks — 
Letter  from  Van — After  the  Massacre  in  Harput — Suffering  in  the  Villages — 
Appeal  for  Help . . . . . 


502 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Partition  of  Turkey. 

Factors  in  the  Problem— Turkey  and  Europe— Topography  of  the  Country— Distri¬ 
bution  of  Population — Countries  Interested — Russia,  England,  France,  Austria, 
Italy,  Germany,  Greece,  Bulgaria— Desire  for  Territorial  Aggrandizement— Mutual 
Jealousies— Possible  Solution— Turkish  Factor  Often  Overlooked— Great  Difficul¬ 
ties  to  be  Met . * . 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

America  and  Turkey. 

Early  Treaties — Some  Prominent  Ambassadors — American  Missionaries — Obedience 
to  the  Laws — Treaty  Rights — Questions  of  Importance  Indemnity  at  Harput 
and  Marash— More  Consuls  Needed— Naturalized  Americans— Right  of  Domicile 
Threatened — Positive  Action  Needed — Duty  of  America .  542 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

General  Survey. 

Statistics  of  Massacre  and  Pillage— Where  Does  the  Responsibility  Rest?— The 
Turks ;  Fear,  Ferocity,  Outrage — The  Armenians ;  Ambition,  Lack  of  Preparation, 
Unwisdom  of  Huntchagists— The  European  Powers;  Jealousy,  Ambition, 
Cowardice— The  Sultan;  Alliance  with  Reactionary  Party,  Difficult  Position, 
Individual  Care  of  Minutiae— Latest  Development  of  Most  Terrible  Persecution. .  552 


' 


■ 

• 

• 

’ 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Patriarch  of  Constantinople  .... 

Frontispiece. 

PAGE 

View  of  Mount  Ararat . 

•  • 

1 7 

General  View  of  the  Gardens  of  Van 

•  • 

1 8 

A  Kurdish  Encampment . 

•  • 

35 

Turkish  Peasant  Family . 

•  • 

36 

The  Hamadieh  Mosque  ..... 

•  • 

53 

Turkish  Dervish  . . 

•  • 

54 

Turkish  Peasant  ...... 

•  • 

Group  of  Mountaineers . 

•  • 

72 

Kurdish  Sheik . 

•  • 

89 

Group  of  Xeibecks . 

•  • 

90 

Armenian  Woman  ...... 

•  • 

107 

An  Evangelical  Armenian  Church 

•  • 

108 

Kurdish  Mountain  Village  .... 

•  • 

125 

A  Turkish  Village  Sheik  .... 

•  • 

126 

The  City  of  Brusa  ...... 

•  • 

143 

Land  Walls  of  Constantinople 

• 

144 

Bridge  of  Boats  Across  the  Lower  Tigris  . 

161 

Village  of  Reed  Huts  in  Lower  Mesopotamia 

•  • 

162 

A  Khan,  or  Caravansary  .... 

•  • 

179 

A  Dome  Village  in  Northern  Mesopotamia 

•  • 

180 

General  View  of  Constantinople  . 

• 

197 

View  of  Adrianople  ..... 

• 

•  • 

07) 

198 

i8 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Group  of  Armenian  Young  Men  .  .  .  .  .  .251 

The  City  of  Marsovan  in  Asia  Minor  .  .  ,  .  -252 

Sultan  of  Turkey . .  269 

Audience  at  the  Palace  ........  270 

Robert  College  .  .  .  .  »  .  .  .  .287 

The  Boys’  High  School  in  Smyrna . 288 

Circassian  Officer  in  the  Sultan’s  Army  ....  305 

Slaughter  of  the  Armenians  at  Sassun  ....  306 
Gateway  of  the  War  Department  at  Constantinople  .  359 

The  City  of  Trebizond . 360 

The  City  of  Harput  in  Eastern  Turkey  ....  377 

The  City  of  Aintab  ........  378 

The  City  of  Gumushkhane . 395 

View  in  the  City  of  Tabriz  .......  396 

Council  of  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  Regarding 
the  Armenian  Question  .  .  .  .  .  .  *413 

Square  of  the  Atmeidan  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  414 

British  Flotilla . .431 

Massacres  of  the  Armenians . 449 

Looting  in  Stamboul . 467 

Massacre  in  Stamboul . .  .  485 

Imprisoning  Armenians . 494 

Scene  of  Slaughter . 510 

After  the  Slaughter . 526 

Burying  the  Armenians  . . 543 


VIEW  OF  MOUNT  ARARAT.  This  is  taken  from  a  celebrated  painting,  not  from  a  photograph,  but  is, 
perhaps,  even  better  than  a  photographic  view  as  it  sets  out  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  countrv.  In  the  foreground  is  a 
caravan  of  camels  such  as  is  found  less  and  less  frequently,  most  of  the  merchandise  being  now  carried  upon  mules  or 
horses,  or  in  wagons. 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  GARDENS  OF  VAN.  The  hill  in  the  background  is  the  Acropolis,  occupying 
the  site  of  the  ancient  city,  which  dates  back  beyond  the  time  of  Christ.  The  light  trees  in  the  foreground  are  poplars, 
which  are  planted  in  numbers  where  the  e  are  streams,  to  furnish  timber  for  the  houses. 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Turkish  Empire. 

Geographical  Extent — Topography — Physical  Characteristics — Products— Traveling  and 

Transportation — Building. 

THE  Turkish  Empire  at  the  beginning  of  1896  included: 

in  Europe,  Albania,  Macedonia,  and  the  southeastern 
portion  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula  ;  in  Asia,  Asia  Minor,  Eastern 
Turkey  or  Kurdistan,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  and  a  compara¬ 
tively  small  section  of  Southern  Arabia.  In  nominal  subjec¬ 
tion  was  the  large  African  province  of  Tripoli,  while  Egypt 
and  Bulgaria  were  reckoned  as  tributary  States.  The  total 
area  may  be  estimated  as  follows : 

IMMEDIATE  POSSESSIONS. 


Europe . 

.  63,850  square  miles. 

Asia . 

H 

Total . 

.  79 3>°2° 

Add  Tripoli . 

.  398,873  “ 

u 

Total . 

TRIBUTARY  STATES. 

Bulgaria . 

.  37,86o  « 

if 

Egypt . 

.  400,000  “ 

41 

Island  of  Samos . . . 

.  210  “ 

« 

Total . 

Grand  Total. . .  . 

. 1,629,963 

A  better  idea  of  the  extent  will  be  gained  from  the  state¬ 
ment  that  the  immediate  possessions  cover  very  nearly  the 
same  territory  as  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi, 

while  the  addition  of  Tripoli  carries  the  line  to  include  Minne- 

19 


2 


20 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


sota  and  Louisiana,  and  the  entire  possessions  correspond  to 
the  section  east  of  a  line  drawn  south  from  the  western  boun¬ 
dary  of  the  Dakotas  and  cutting  Texas  in  two. 

It  is,  however,  by  no  means  a  compact  country,  as  will 
readily  be  seen  by  the  map,  and  the  different  sections  are  as 
unlike  to  as  they  are  distant  from  each  other.  The  difference 
between  Albania  and  Mesopotamia,  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt, 
is  scarcely  less  great  than  that  between  Maine  and  Honduras, 
Oregon  and  Cuba.  This  great  diversity  in  topography  carries 
with  it  corresponding  diversity  in  the  general  characteristics  of 
the  people,  and  both  must  be  kept  in  mind  if  the  situation,  po¬ 
litical  and  social,  is  to  be  understood. 

Topographically  the  general  characteristics  of  the  Turkish 
Empire,  whether  in  Europe  or  Asia,  are  a  great  extent  of 
coast  line  and  a  large  amount  of  mountainous  country.  With 
the  exception  of  the  Mesopotamia  plain,  a  portion  of  Northern 
Syria  and  the  plateaus  of  Western  Asia  Minor,  the  whole 
Empire  is  distinctly  mountainous.  In  European  Turkey  the 
mountains  extend  from  Montenegro  into  Greece;  and  until 
within  a  hundred  miles  of  Constantinople,  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  the  valley  of  the  Vardar,  there  is  scarcely  any  plain 
at  all.  Asiatic  Turkey  may  be  divided  into  four  sections  : 
Asia  Minor,  Eastern  Turkey,  Syria  and  Mesopotamia.  Asia 
Minor  includes  the  country  west  of  a  line  drawn  north  from 
the  Gulf  of  Iskanderun  to  the  Black  Sea  ;  Eastern  Turkey 
the  remainder  eastward  to  the  Persian  border ;  Syria  in¬ 
cludes  the  section  south  of  the  Taurus  and  east  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  to  the  Euphrates;  and  Mesopotamia  covers  the  great 
valley  between  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  and  the  section  be¬ 
tween  the  Tigris  and  the  Persian  border  as  far  south  as  the 
Persian  Gulf, 


MOUNTAIN  RANGES. 


21 


From  the  very  eastern  end  of  the  Black  Sea  along  its 
southern  coast,  along  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  the  Aegean  and 
the  Mediterranean,  extends  a  range  of  mountains,  broken 
only  by  occasional  passes ;  while  from  the  Mediterranean 
through  to  the  Persian  border  a  line  almost  as  sharp  as  that 
of  a  seacoast  separates  the  mountainous  region  known  his¬ 
torically  as  Armenia,  more  lately  as  Kurdistan  or  Eastern 
Turkey,  from  the  level  of  Mesopotamia.  So  also  the  Lebanon 
range,  extending  from  this  same  point  of  departure,  the  Gulf 
of  Iskanderun,  separates  the  narrow  coast  line  from  the  Sy¬ 
rian  Desert  and  the  Hauran. 

The  coast  has  almost  no  harbors  worthy  of  the  name. 
Constantinople,  with  its  Bosporus  and  Golden  Horn,  is  famous  ; 
Smyrna  has  a  good  harbor,  but  Trebizond,  Samsun  and  In- 
eboli  on  the  Black  Sea  ;  Adalia,  Mersine,  Alexandretta,  Beirut 
and  Jaffa  on  the  Mediterranean,  are  open  roadsteads.  In 
European  Turkey  there  are  fairly  good  harbors  at  Kavala 
and  Salonica  on  the  Aegean,  but  none  on  the  coast  of  the 
Adriatic.  The  mountain0 ranges  have  very  few  passes.  The 
most  important  ones  in  Asiatic  Turkey  are  on  the  north  from 
Trebizond  to  Erzrum,  from  Samsun  south  to  Marsovan  and 
Sivas,  and  from  Ineboli  to  Kastamuni  and  Angora  ;  and  on 
the  south  from  Mersine  and  Adana  to  Nidgeh  and  Cesarea, 
from  Marash  to  Malatia  and  Harput,  and  from  Diarbekir  to 
Harput.  On  the  east  there  are  passes  from  Erzrum  to  Kars, 
from  Van  to  Trebizond,  from  Mosul  by  Rowandiz  to  Lake 
Urumia,  and  from  Bagdad  to  Hamadan.  Ther^are  of  course 
other  roads,  but  they  are  so  precipitous  as  to  be  most  difficult  of 
passage.  The  western  section  of  Asia  Minor  is  mountainous, 
without  special  ranges,  and  there  are  no  passes  of  the  same 
nature  as  those  that  cross  the  northern  and  southern  ranges 


22 


BEAUTIFUL  SCENERY. 


of  mountains.  Still  the  country  is  very  rough  and  there  are 
only  a  few  roads  easy  of  travel. 

In  such  a  country  it  is  natural  to  expect  that  the  scenery 
should  be  fine,  and  the  expectation  is  not  disappointed.  Along 
the  Tigris  there  are  views  unsurpassed,  except  perhaps  among 
the  high  Alps  or  the  Himalayas,  for  grandeur.  As  the  river 
cuts  its  way  between  lofty  precipices  and  catches  glimpses 
through  the  valleys  of  snowclad  summits,  one  gets  an  idea 
of  the  strange  effect  it  must  have  had  upon  Xenophon  and  his 
ten  thousand  as  they  toiled  along  the  path  still  easily  traced 
on  the  east  bank.  The  approach  to  the  city  of  Rowandiz 
from  Mosul  and  Arbela  is  through  a  gorge,  where  the  road, 
which  winds  for  2000  feet  up  a  precipice,  furnishes  views 
equal  to  any  in  Switzerland.  The  author,  passing,  here  fired 
his  gun  expecting  an  echo,  but  was  disappointed  and  was  just 
starting-  on  when  from  far  down  the  canon  there  came  a  faint 
sound.  Nearer  and  nearer  it  came,  hurled  back  and  forth 
from  cliff  to  cliff,  until  the  echo  was  almost  deafening,  and  he 
was  satisfied. 

A  very  different  kind  of  scenery  is  that  over  the  plains. 
The  view  from  Mardin,  bounded  by  the  Sinjar  Hills,  nearly 
100  miles  away,  is  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  The  great 
Mesopotamia  plain  lies  at  one’s  feet,  like  a  gorgeous  carpet 
of  many  colors,  and  the  villages  like  children’s  playthings  dot 
it  with  miniature  pictures  of  life.  So  too  the  views  over  the 
Cesarea  plain,  from  the  slopes  of  the  snowclad  Argeus;  over 
the  Harput  plain,  from  the  Deli  Baba  Pass  near  Erzrum,  and 
from  the  summits  back  of  Trebizond  and  Samsun,  where  the 
Black  Sea  first  breaks  on  the  view  ;  and  most  unique  perhaps 
of  all,  that  from  the  citadel  of  Van,  with  the  gardens  and  lake 
in  the  foreground,  and  volcanic  Sipan  Dagh  looming  up  in 


CARRIAGE  ROADS. 


23 


the  background.  Of  all  the  mountains  Ararat  is  certainly 
the  most  beautiful.  From  whatever  direction  it  is  seen  its 
symmetrical  sides  and  regular  summit  appear  perfectly  ap¬ 
proachable,  yet  so  difficult  is  the  ascent  that  to  the  people  it 
seems  almost  as  if  God  had  forbidden  its  summit  to  be  pro¬ 
faned.  Very  different  from  all  these  is  the  region  near  Brusa, 
with  its  Bithynian  Olympus,  its  lake  of  Nicaea,  and  its  vine¬ 
yards,  reminding  one  of  Southern  France.  In  some  future  day 
when  traveling  is  not  only  safe,  but  easy,  searchers  after  the 
beautiful  as  well  as  the  grand,  will  find  Turkey  a  favorite 
field  of  travel. 

Over  the  plateaus  of  Asia  Minor  and  the  great  Mesopo¬ 
tamia  plain,  passage  is  easy.  Through  the  mountainous  sec¬ 
tion  of  Eastern  Turkey  it  is  almost  as  difficult  in  any  direc¬ 
tion  as  over  the  great  ranges.  The  Romans  had  built  cause¬ 
ways  in  every  direction,  but  in  the  later  Byzantine  times,  these 
had  fallen  into  disuse,  and  the  great  pitfalls  occasioned  by  the 
dropping  out  of  huge  blocks  of  stone  made  them  almost  im¬ 
passable.  In  a  few  instances,  the  Turkish  Sultans  made  some 
efforts  to  repair  these  causeways,  but  they  were  seldom  suc¬ 
cessful.  The  result  was  that  every  thing,  was  carried  on  horses, 
mules  or  camels,  and  such  a  thing  as  a  cart  or  carriage  was 
unknown.  There  have  been  various  attempts  on  the  part  of 
the  Turkish  government  to  develop  a  system  of  carriage 
roads,  especially  within  the  past  twenty  years.  Of  these  there 
were  five  specially  important  ones  designed  to  connect  Bagdad 
and  Persia  with  the  seacoast.  One  from  Constantinople  via 
Nicomedia,  Angora,  Sivas  and  Diarbekir  to  Mardin,  Mosul 
and  Bagdad;  one  from  Samsun  on  the  Black  Sea  via  Amasia 
connecting  with  the  first  at  Sivas ;  one  from  Smyrna  via 
Konieh  and  Cesarea  also  connecting  with  the  other  at 


24 


RAILROADS. 


Sivas ;  one  from  Alexandretta  via  Aleppo  and  Urfa  to 
Diarbekir  on  the  north,  and  on  the  south  via  Nisibin 
to  Mosul  connecting  with  the  others  at  Diarbekir 
and  Mosul.  On  the  north  there  was  a  road  from  Trebi- 
zond  via  Erzrum  and  Van  into  Persia.  In  Syria  the  only 
roads  of  importance  are  from  Beirut  and  Khaifa  to  Damascus. 
At  the  present  time  there  are  scarcely  any  roads  worthy  of 
the  name  anywhere  in  the  empire,  except  between  Trebizond 
and  Erzrum  and  between  Beirut  and  Damascus. 

There  are  a  few  railroads.  The  first  to  be  built  was  from 
Smyrna  to  Aidin.  That  was  followed  by  one  from  Smyrna 
to  Manisa,  extended  on  to  Alashehir  ;  then  followed  one  from 
Constantinople  to  Nicomedia,  since  extended  somewhat  on 
the  way  to  Angora ;  one  from  Mersine  to  Adana,  and  one 
from  the  coast  to  Brusa.  It  was  the  plan  for  all  these  to  con¬ 
verge  into  a  great  railway  to  Bagdad,  but,  like  so  many  other 
enterprises,  they  have  proved  unsuccessful.  In  European 
Turkey,  owing  largely  to  the  influence  of  Austria,  there  has 
been  better  success,  and  both  Salonica  and  Constantinople  are 
connected  by  rail  with  Vienna  and  Paris. 

The  climate  of  the  Turkish  Empire  is  very  varied.  In 
European  Turkey,  Western  Asia  Minor  and  Northern  East¬ 
ern  Turkey  it  is  temperate  ;  while  Syria  and  Mesopotamia  are 
almost  torrid  in  their  heat.  Undoubtedly  the  lack  of  trees 
has  much  to  do  with  the  intense  heat  of  the  plains  of  North¬ 
ern  Syria,  and  even  of  sections  of  Asia  Minor.  The  rains  have 
washed  the  soil  off  the  hills  and  mountains  in  many  places, 
leaving  bare  rock,  the  reflection  from  which  is  intense  in 
summer,  while  in  winter  the  cold  is  almost  equally  unendur¬ 
able.  The  snows  throughout  Eastern  Turkey  are  very  se¬ 
vere,  rendering  the  roads  almost  impassable  in  winter,  so  that 


FERTILITY. 


25 


cara.va.ns  are  frequently  detained  for  days  and  weeks,  and 
sometimes  goods  on  their  way  from  Erzrum  and  Van  into 
Persia  are  delayed  for  several  months.  In  Western  Asia 
Minor,  there  is  comparatively  little  snow,  but  the  winter  season 
is  one  of  rain,  and  the  soil,  being  in  the  main  clay,  renders 
travel  exceedingly  difficult.  In  Syria  the  intense  heat  of  the 
plain  may  be  escaped  by  going  to  the  higher  slopes  of 
Lebanon.  Thus  the  inhabitants  of  Beirut  have  a  pleasant 
resort  within  a  few  hours’  ride.  In  Mesopotamia,  however, 
this  opportunity  does  not  exist,  and  almost  the  only  relief 
from  the  intense  heat  in  Mosul  and  Bagdad,  is  found  by  tak¬ 
ing  refuge  in  cellars. 

The  whole  empire  is  extraordinarily  fertile.  The  great 
Mesopotamia  plain  will  bear  the  richest  harvests  with  even 
the  rudest  form  of  agriculture  ;  so  also  the  plateaus  of  Asia 
Minor  and  the  valleys  of  Macedonia.  There  is  scarcely  a 
level  square  mile  in  the  whole  empire  that  does  not  yield 
excellent  returns  for  very  little  labor.  Originally  there  were 
large  forests.  They  have  however  almost  entirely  disap¬ 
peared,  and  the  only  sections  of  forest  to-day  are  along  the 
shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  in  the  region  of  Bitlis  and  between 
Marash  and  the  Gulf  of  Iskanderun.  Elsewhere  the  country 
is  desolate,  and  the  traveler  is  often  directed  on  his  way  by 
landmarks  of  single  trees.  .Comparatively  small  portions  of 
the  empire  are,  however,  under  cultivation.  There  are  wide 
extended  pasturages  for  herds  and  flocks,  but  these  do  not  by 
any  means  cover  the  entire  land,  and  there  are  long  stretches 
without  a  siom  of  cultivation  and  with  scarcely  an  inhabitant. 

O 

The  products  of  the  country  are  chiefly  wheat,  rice  and 
barley.  Cotton  is  raised  somewhat  in  Northern  Syria  and  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  there  are  also  large  fields  of  poppies,  the 


26 


MINERAL  WEALTH. 


opium  trade  being  quite  extensive.  Tobacco  is  cultivated 
everywhere,  and  vegetables  are  much  the  same  as  ours,  with 
the  exception  of  the  potato,  which  is  almost  unknown.  The 
whole  empire  is  rich  in  fruits  of  every  kind,  grapes,  melons, 
figs,  olives,  peaches,  pears,  oranges,  pomegranates  and  dates. 
All  are  of  the  best.  The  vineyards  are  extensive  and  in 
European  Turkey  and  Western  Asiatic  Turkey  considerable 
wine  is  made,  which  is  largely  exported  to  Europe  and  then 
re-exported  bearing  a  French  or  Italian  brand.  Olive  groves 
are  especially  abundant  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  the  fig  orchards  of  Smyrna  are  well  known.  Dates  are 
not  found  to  any  great  degree  outside  of  Egypt. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Turkey  is  very  great,  but  it  is  so 
thoroughly  undeveloped  as  to  make  its  estimate  very  difficult. 
Along  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  and  in  some  portions  of 
the  Taurus  there  is  a  great  deal  of  coal,  but  it  is  not  mined 
and  the  extent  of  the  deposit  is  practically  unknown.  In 
Eastern  Turkey  there  are  important  mines  of  copper,  silver 
and  iron.  These  are  worked  with  very  rude  methods  and 
with  varying  success,  but  the  output  is  such  as  to  indicate 
great  wealth,  still  undeveloped.  There  are  also  in  Western 
Asia  Minor  mines  of  baryta  which  have  been  worked  to  some 
extent.  In  European  Turkey  there  is  considerable  iron,  and 
probably  considerable  in  the  mountains  of  Western  Turkey, 
but  there  are  few  if  any  mines. 

The  domestic  animals  of  the  empire  are  horses,  mules,  don¬ 
keys,  camels,  sheep,  buffaloes  and  dogs.  There  are  also  in 
certain  sections  wild  boar,  deer  and  other  game,  but  to  a 
limited  extent.  The  horses  vary  from  the  fine  Arab  of  the 
desert  to  the  scrubby  but  enduring  pony  of  Syria.  The 
ordinary  horse  used  in  caravans  is  a  rather  small  but  powerful 


DOMESTIC  ANIMALS. 


27 


animal,  sure-footed  and  easily  adapting  himself  to  the  rough 
roads  and  rather  poor  fodder.  The  use  of  donkeys  and  mules 
is  universal.  The  white  donkey  of  Bagdad  is  almost  as  aris¬ 
tocratic  an  animal  as  the  Arab  horse.  Camels  have  gradually 
disappeared  from  the  North,  but  are  found  in  the  South,  and 
are  still  occasionally  sent  out  in  caravans  from  Smyrna.  The 
cows  are  poor,  small  and  of  little  value,  either  for  their  milk 
or  for  use  in  farming.  Agriculture  is  carrried  on  chiefly  by 
the  use  of  buffaloes.  The  animal  to  whose  development 
most  attention  has  been  given,  is  undoubtedly  the  horse,  and 
next  to  that  the  sheep.  The  Angora  sheep  and  goats  of 
Western  Asia  Minor  are  famous  all  over  the  world,  and  in 
general  the  equality  of  wool  and  of  mutton  is  most  excellent. 
The  dogs  are  of  many  breeds,  including  fierce  shepherd  dogs 
and  fine  greyhounds,  but  the  most  common  is  the  mongrel 
cur  of  the  cities  and  towns.  Fowls  are  to  be  found  every 
where  and  in  large  quantities,  and  there  are  pigeons  and 
partridges  in  abundance. 

The  food  of  the  people  is  chiefly  the  different  preparations 
of  wheat  and  rice,  and  in  meats  they  eat  little  but  mutton  and 
fowl ;  beef  is  considered  by  most  as  unfit  for  food.  They  also 
use  a  great  deal  of  milk,  chiefly  of  sheep  or  buffaloes.  They 
are  very  fond  of  a  preparation  of  fermented  milk,  not  unlike 
curds,  generally  eaten  in  the  semi-solid  form,  but  sometimes 
mixed  with  water  and  made  into  a  very  refreshing  drink.  A 
certain  modification  of  this  has  been  introduced  into  this 
country  and  is  widely  known  under  the  name  of  Madzoon. 
The  cooking  is  in  the  main  very  tasty,  although  the  common 
people,  especially  in  the  mountains  and  the  southern  plains, 
are  content  with  a  very  meager  diet.  The  traveller  who 
understands  the  ways  of  the  country  can  generally  provide 


28 


TRAVELING  FACILITIES. 


himself  well,  but  he  must  carry  some  form  of  provision  with 
him.  As  is  natural,  the  food  to  be  found  depends  very  largely 
upon  the  nature  of  the  country.  In  the  heart  of  the  Kurdish 
or  Taurus  Mountains,  there  will  often  be  little  more  than  a 
coarse  millet  bread,  and  perhaps  milk,  to  be  had;  while  in  the 
cities  and  large  towns,  as  also  on  the  great  agricultural  plains, 
almost  anything  can  be  secured,  and  a  good  cook  will  provide 
a  meal  that  the  most  fastidious  would  heartily  enjoy.  The 
author  has  repeatedly  enjoyed  dinners  that  would  do  credit  to 
a  New  York  Hotel  for  delicacy  and  richness  of  flavor. 

Traveling  and  the  carriage  of  merchandise  is  almost  entirely 
by  means  of  horses,  mules  and  camels.  The  use  of  wagons 
has  been  introduced  to  a  limited  degree,  but,  except  between 
Trebizond  and  Erzrum,  it  has  not  become  general.  This  is 
chiefly  in  consequence  of  the  poor  roads,  and  the  fact  that 
even  where  there  are  stretches  of  good  roads,  they  are  so 
short  as  to  necessitate  a  change  when  the  journey  is  to  be 
continued.  For  the  mail  and  for  travelers  with  little  baggage, 
there  is  a  system  of  relay  traveling.  Horses  may  be  changed 
at  stations  from  sixteen  to  thirty  miles  apart,  and  although 
seldom  of  the  better  sort,  they  can  be  kept  at  a  slow  trot  or 
uncertain  gallop,  so  that  a  speed  of  from  four  to  six  miles  an 
hour  can  be  maintained  through  the  day.  The  ordinary  dis¬ 
tance  covered  by  a  caravan,  whether  of  travelers  or  of  mer¬ 
chandise,  is  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  miles  a  day.  A  post 
rider  will  frequently,  in  Turkey,  cover  forty  to  fifty  miles;  and 
in  Persia,  where  the  same  system  is  employed,  but  the  roads 
and  horses  are  better,  seventy-five  or  eighty,  even  a  hundred 
miles  a  day,  are  not  infrequently  covered.  The  mail  carriers, 
or  Tartars  as  they  are  called,  ride  day  and  night,  stopping 
only  for  change  of  horses  and  refreshments.  One  result  of 


MEASURING  DISTANCES. 


29 


this  general  method  of  traveling  is  that  distances  are  measured 
by  hours,  not  by  miles,  the  hour  varying  somewhat  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  In  Asia  Minor,  where  horses  and  mules 
are  chiefly  used,  the  hour  is  equivalent  to  from  three  to  four 
miles,  but  in  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  where  camels  are  more 
common,  the  hour  is  seldom  over  three  miles.  Thus  Erzrum 
is  sixty  hours  from  Trebizond — 180  miles;  and  Harput  sixty 
hours  from  Sivas — 240  miles;  but  thirty  hours  from  Marash 
to  Alexandretta  means  no  more  than  ninety  miles. 

The  country  is  very  thoroughly  covered  with  telegraph  lines 
connecting  the  principal  cities,  and  the  postal  arrangements 
supply  both  the  cities  and  larger  towns.  Both  are  under  the 
sole  control  of  the  government,  although  one  of  the  lines  of 
telegraph,  from  Constantinople  to  Bagdad,  connecting  with  an 
extension  to  India,  is  owned  by  an  English  Company.  Turkey 
being  a  member  of  the  Postal  Union,  letters  from  any  interior 
city  can  be  forwarded  to  America  at  the  regular  rate,  but  the 
internal  rates  are  very  high.  Under  the  administration  of 
Abdul  Aziz,  and  during  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Abdul 
Hamid,  both  departments  were,  on  the  whole,  fairly  well  con¬ 
ducted,  but  of  late  years  there  has  been  no  certainty  of  cor¬ 
rect  transmission  either  of  telegrams  or  letters,  while  papers 
frequently  fail  to  reach  their  destination. 

In  this  connection  a  word  should  be  said  as  to  the  means 
of  business  communication.  Constantinople  and  the  seaboard 
cities  are  fairly  well  supplied  with  banking  facilities.  The  Im¬ 
perial  Ottoman  Bank  has  also  a  few  branches  in  the  interior, 
but  for  the  most  part  the  only  method  of  transmitting  funds 
has  been  by  sending  coin  through  the  mails.  In  certain  sec¬ 
tions,  this  has  been  very  hazardous  on  account  of  the  insecu¬ 
rity  of  the  country,  and  as  a  result,  internal  trade  has  been 


1 


3° 


CITY  WALLS. 


greatly  hampered.  The  establishment  of  the  American  mis¬ 
sions  all  over  the  land  has  served  in  this  matter  greatly  to  the 
advantage  of  trade.  A  system  of  drafts  has  been  established 
by  which  the  missionaries  draw  on  their  treasurer  in  Con¬ 
stantinople  and  these  drafts  are  sold  in  the  market,  facilitat¬ 
ing  exchange  greatly.  The  missionaries,  however,  are  very 
cautious,  feeling  that  their  position  makes  it  unwise  for  them 
to  share  to  any  great  extent  in  general  trade. 

One  thing  that  strikes  the  traveler  in  Turkey  very  forcibly 
is  the  very  sharp  lines  drawn  between  the  cities,  towns  and 
villages  and  the  surrounding  country.  City  walls  have  to  a 
considerable  extent  disappeared,  though  they  remain  in  some 
of  the  more  ancient  places,  Diarbekir,  Urfa,  Erzrum,  etc. 
Beyond  the  line  of  houses  there  are  in  some  instances, 
notably  the  city  of  Van,  large  sections  of  cultivated  land, 
garden,  vineyard  or  wheat  field.  In  other  cases,  as  at  Erzrum, 
the  city  seems  set  down  in  the  plain  with  no  sort  of  relation 
to  the  surrounding  country.  The  same  is  true  of  the  towns 
and  villages.  Some  are  so  completely  imbedded  in  the  gardens, 
that  they  appear  much  larger  than  they  really  are,  while 
others  give  no  sign  of  their  existence,  except  as  the  village 
dog  barks  his  signal  of  unwelcome  to  the  traveler. 

The  general  style  of  building  varies  with  the  section  of 
country.  Along  the  seaboard,  or  within  easy  reach  of  it,  the 
general  appearance  of  the  houses  reminds  one  of  Europe. 
There  is  a  frame  of  timber,  with  a  wall  of  board  or  rough 
brick  or  stone  covered  with  stucco.  Red  brick  and  dressed 
stone  are  also  not  uncommon.  In  the  interior,  however,  the 
general  style  is  that  of  the  Mexican  adobe.  Sun-dried  brick 
furnishes  the  chief  material,  sometimes  whitewashed  for  more 
pretentious  homes,  government  houses,  churches  or  mosques, 


PECULIAR  HOMES. 


3* 


but  generally  retaining  the  color  of  mother  earth.  In  parts  of 
Asia  Minor  where  a  soft  sandstone  abounds,  there  are  brown- 
stone  fronts,  rivalling  in  style  some  to  be  found  in  our  own  cities. 
There  is  generally,  however,  some  incongruity,  made  manifest 
in  a  wooden  beam  supporting  a  carved  window,  or  an  elegant 
doorway  in  the  middle  of  an  adobe  wall.  Diarbekir  is  famous 
for  its  basalt  walls,  giving  both  city  and  houses  a  most  for¬ 
bidding  aspect.  On  the  Mesopotamia  plain,  especially  toward 
the  south,  reed  huts  are  numerous,  while  in  Northern  Syria 
the  almost  entire  lack  of  timber  has  occasioned  the  building  of 
huts  domed  with  sun-dried  brick,  anticipating  the  principle  of 
the  Pantheon  at  Rome.  In  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan  the  vil¬ 
lagers  not  infrequently  burrow  into  the  mountain  side,  and 
even  on  the  plains  of  Asia  Minor  advantage  is  taken  of  roll¬ 
ing  land  to  help  in  the  making  of  the  walls,  and  the  traveler 
by  night  need  not  be  surprised  if  his  horse  breaks  through 
the  roof  of  some  unnoticed  house.  There  are  numerous  in¬ 
stances,  notably  in  Amasia  and  Urfa  and  along  the  Tigris,  of 
villages  cut  into  precipices  of  rock,  while  in  other  places  the 
villagers  burrow  into  the  hills.  In  passing  from  Mardin  to 
Urfa  once,  the  author  came,  toward  evening,  to  the  foot  of  a 
hill,  where  the  guide  said  he  was  to  spend  the  night  in  an  Arab 
village.  He  looked  around,  but  saw  no  signs  of  life.  The 
guide  went  to  the  summit  of  the  hill,  and  shouted  into  what  ap¬ 
peared  a  mere  hole  in  the  ground.  A  few  minutes  after  a 
man  appeared  through  what  had  seemed  to  be  the  entrance 
to  a  tomb,  such  as  abounded  in  that  region,  and  soon  the 
whole  party  were  descending  through  a  passageway  into  a 
large  room,  used  both  as  granary  and  living  room  by  the 
villagers. 

Such  descriptions  might  go  on  indefinitely,  but  this  will  be 


32 


STONE  BUILDINGS. 


sufficient  to  indicate  that  throughout  the  empire  the  people 
have  made  the  most  of  the  resources  at  their  command,  for 
their  permanent  dwellings.  Tent  life  is  confined  to  the 
Bedouin  Arabs  and  the  summer  wanderings  of  the  Kurds 
over  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia  and  Asia  Minor.  It  should 
be  said,  however,  that  within  the  past  fifty  years  there  has 
been  considerable  advance  in  the  style  of  building,  chiefly  due 
undoubtedly  to  the  influence  of  the  missionary  houses  and 
the  evangelical  chapels,  and  to-day  the  general  appearance 
throughout  the  entire  country  has  greatly  improved. 

The  arrangement  within  the  houses  also  varies  with  the 
section  of  country.  In  the  interior  cities  and  large  towns, 
the  ground  floor  is  taken  up  with  court,  stable,  kitchen,  store¬ 
room  and  perhaps  an  audience  room,  the  living  rooms  being 
chiefly  on  the  second  floor.  In  the  villages,  however,  there 
are  few  houses  with  a  second  story,  and  often  the  family  share 
the  one  living  room  with  their  animals. 

A  word  should  be  said  as  to  the  accommodation  for  travelers. 
This  is  chiefly  in  the  form  of  khans  or  caravansaries,  situated 
in  the  cities  and  on  most  of  the  caravan  routes  through  the 
greater  part  of  the  empire,  at  intervals  of  about  thirty  miles. 
They  are  as  a  rule  stone  buildings,  with  a  large  open  enclosure, 
surrounded  by  alcoves,  closed  or  open,  according  to  the  climate. 
In  the  north,  where  the  winter  storms  may  be  severe,  there  are 
stables  frequently  partly  underground.  The  alcoves  are  for 
the  travelers,  the  open  space  for  their  loads  and  the  stables 
for  the  animals,  but  in  case  of  severe  weather  the  stable 
becomes  also  the  refuge  for  the  traveler,  whether  merchant, 
muleteer  or  official.  In  the  large  cities  regular  rent  is  charged, 
but  in  the  country  there  is  simply  a  keeper  who  receives  a 
small  fee  for  furnishing  fuel  and  water,  otherwise  the  place 


VILLAGE  CLUB. 


33 


being  free  for  all  comers.  In  some  cases  there  is  no  keeper 
at  all,  the  place  being  left  to  go  to  ruin.  Most  of  these  build¬ 
ings  in  the  interior  have  been  put  up  as  acts  of  merit  by 
wealthy  Turks,  but  with  no  regular  income,  and  no  one  to  be 
responsible  for  them,  they  have  in  many  places  fallen  sadly 
into  decay. 

In  the  villages  and  even  many  of  the  larger  towns  where 
there  are  no  khans,  the  traveler  is  sent  to  what  is  known  as 
the  “guest  room.”  A  room,  or  in  some  instances,  a  house,  is 
set  apart  both  for  -travelers,  and  as  a  meeting  place,  a  sort  of 
club  for  the  villagers.  Here  they  meet  in  the  evening  to 
discuss  the  events  of  the  day,  much  as  Americans  gather  at 
the  postoffice  or  corner  store.  Some  one  is  designated  to 
provide  fire  and  coffee  and  the  head  of  the  village  holds  a 
sort  of  court  or  assembly.  Here  also  the  traveler  is  welcomed, 
indeed  has  a  right,  whether  welcomed  or  not,  to  make  his 
stay.  The  room  as  a  rule  is  oblong,  with  a  fireplace  at  the 
end,  and  has  a  slightly  raised  platform  on  either  side.  If  the 
arrival  be  a  foreigner  or  official,  he  immediately  takes  the 
place  of  honor  on  the  right  near  the  fireplace  and  all  gather 
to  show  him  courtesy.  If  an  ordinary  muleteer  or  peasant,  he 
must  be  content  with  a  place  near  the  door.  Here  also  there 
is  no  charge,  the  attendants  being  satisfied  with  what  they 
receive  for  the  supply  of  food,  etc.  In  case  the  village  is  too 
poor  to  boast  a  guest  room,  the  traveler  must  content  himself 
with  some  private  house  or  room,  which  he  generally  finds  no 
difficulty  in  securing.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  traveler 
in  the  interior  must  in  the  main  provide  his  own  furniture  and 
provision,  unless  he  is  able  to  put  up  with  the  very  simple  fare 
of  the  villagers.  Foreigners,  and  even  natives  of  the  better 


34 


SIMPLICITY  OF  LIVING. 


class,  carry  their  own  bedding,  cooking  utensils  and,  to  a 
degree,  their  food. 

The  furniture  of  the  houses  is  very  simple,  even  in  the 
cities,  and  in  the  villages  it  is  primitive  to  the  last  degree. 
Chairs,  tables,  upright  bedsteads,  knives  and  forks  are  pene¬ 
trating  little  by  little  even  to  the  towns,  but  still  the  great 
majority  of  the  people  roll  themselves  in  quilts  for  the  night, 
sit  on  the  floor  around  a  platter  for  their  meals  and  use  little 
more  than  spoons.  A  few  copper  kettles  serve  for  the  cook¬ 
ing  and  goatskins  for  holding  what  little  provisions  they  keep. 
A  story  is  told  of  a  mountaineer  in  Eastern  Turkey,  who 
went  to  visit  some  friends  on  the  plain.  When  night  came 
he  was  offered  a  quilt  or  comfortable  and  a  wool  pillow.  He 
accepted  them,  though  with  rather  rueful  countenance,  and 
laid  down  to  sleep.  Sleep,  however,  refused  to  come. 
Alarmed  by  his  tossings  his  friends  asked  him  if  he  were  ill. 
No,  perfectly  well.  But  still  he  tossed  on.  Again  they  came 
to  him  to  know  what  was  the  matter.  At  last  he  blurted  out, 
“I  cannot  stand  this  quilt  and  pillow.  Give  me  a  piece  of 
sacking  to  throw  over  my  head  and  let  me  lie  on  the  floor.” 
Much  against  their  will  he  insisted  and  they  yielded,  and  he 
slept  the  sleep  of  his  own  mountain  home. 


A  KURDISH  ENCAMPMENT.  The  black  tents  are  those  of  Kurdish  tribes  who  spend  the  winter  in  the 
mountain  villages  and  come  down  for  the  spring  and  summer  to  feed  their  flocks  on  the  plains.  They  are  spoken  of  in 
the  Bible  as  the  “  tents  of  Kedar.” 


TURKISH  PEASANT  FAMILY,  from  the  interior  of  Western  Asia  Minor. 
The  family  consists  of  the  mother  in  the  foreground,  the  son  and  his  wife  and  their 
two  children,  son  and  daughter.  An  excellent  illustration  of  the  average  Turkish 
peasantry  of  the  somewhat  better  class,  as  found  in  the  villages  of  Asia  Minor. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Population  and  Languages. 

Accurate  Statements  as  to  Population  Impossible — No  Census — Best  Available  Estimates — 
Distribution — Most  of  the  Races  Described  in  Other  Chapters — Jews  and  Foreigners — 
General  Characteristics — The  Languages — How  Distributed — Peculiarities  of  the 
Turkish — Number  Spoken  in  the  Seaboard  Cities. 

ANY  accurate  statement  as  to  the  population  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  it  is  impossible  to  make.  There  have 
been  various  attempts  at  a  census,  but  they  have 
amounted  to  little  or  nothing,  as  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that 
in  every  case  the  number  of  males  far  exceeds,  sometimes  by 
20  per  cent.,  the  number  of  females.  The  official  returns  like¬ 
wise  are  almost  valueless.  They  are  based  chiefly  upon  tax 
returns  and  these  are  notoriously  inaccurate.  The  taxes  are 
collected  by  the  farming  system  and  based  upon  the  returns 
from  the  heads  of  the  different  communities.  There  is  thus 
on  the  one  hand  a  strong  temptation  on  the  part  of  the  com¬ 
munities  to  underestimate  the  number  of  taxpayers,  and  on 
the  other  hand  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  collectors  to 
misstate,  in  order  to  give  as  much  leeway  as  possible  for 
filling  their  own  pockets.  Accordingly  about  the  only  basis 
for  an  estimate  that  can  in  any  degree  be  relied  upon  is 
furnished  by  the  statements  of  persons  who  have  lived  or 
traveled  extensively  throughout  the  empire,  are  acquainted 
with  the  manner  of  life  of  the  people  and  have  opportunities 
3  (37) 


DISTRIBUTION. 


38 

for  accurate  information  from  the  heads  of  the  communities. 
On  this  basis  a  general  estimate  of  the  population  for  the 
entire  empire,  including  tributary  states,  is  about  30,000,000, 
divided  as  follows : 


Immediate  Possessions. 

Europe . 

Asia . * . . 


4,000,000 

16,000,000 


20,000,000 

Africa,  Tripoli .  1,000,000 

Total . 21,000,000 


Tributary  States. 


Europe .  3,000,000 

Africa,  Egypt . 6,800,000 

The  Mediterranean .  40,000 


Total .  9,840,000 

Grand  Total . . 30,840,000 


Leaving  out  of  account  the  tributary  states  as  practically 
outside  of  our  purpose,  we  give  here  a  brief  general  sur¬ 
vey  of  the  distribution  of  this  population,  reserving  more 
definite  and  particular  statement  for  the  account  of  each  race. 

In  European  Turkey  are  Albanians,  Greeks,  Bulgarians 
and  Turks.  The  Albanians  are  found  on  the  borders  of  the 
Adriatic ;  the  Greeks  on  the  northern  border  of  Greece,  along 
the  shore  of  the  Aegean  and  somewhat  up  the  valley  of  the 
Vardar;  the  Bulgarians  occupy  the  northern  part  of  that 
valley  and  the  mountains  up  to  the  very  border  of  Bulgaria ; 
the  Turks  are  principally  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Adrianople 
and  Constantinople ;  there  are  also  Armenians  in  Adrianople 
and  alone  the  coast  of  the  Marmora.  The  Greeks  are  the 

o 

most  numerous ;  next  to  them  probably  come  the  Albanians 
and  then  the  Bulgarians.  Of  Turks  proper  there  are  very 


ASIATIC  TURKEY. 


39 


few.  For  years  there  has  been  a  constant  emigration  from 
European  Turkey  into  Asiatic  Turkey,  many  recognizing 
that  the  time  was  at  hand  when  the  Ottoman  rule  in  Europe 
must  end.  The  Albanians  are  Moslems.  There  is,  also,  in 
the  mountains  on  the  borders  of  Eastern  Rumelia,  a  con¬ 
siderable  population,  Bulgarian  by  race  and  Moslem  by 
religion,  called  Pomaks. 

Passing  over  into  Asia,  so  far  as  the  population  is  con¬ 
cerned,  the  country  may  be  divided  into  three  sections:  Asia 
Minor  and  Eastern  Turkey,  Syria  and  Mesopotamia.  In  the 
first  of  these  there  are  Turks,  Kurds  and  a  number  of  minor 
Moslem  tribes,  Circassians,  Lazes,  Xeibecks,  Avshars,  Tur¬ 
comans,  etc.  The  Christian  population  is  almost  entire 
Armenian  and  Greek.  The  Turks  are  principally  in  Central 
and  Western  Asia  Minor  ;  the  Kurds  are  in  Eastern  Turkey, 
though  extending  somewhat  along  the  mountain  ranges;  the 
Circassians  are  found  scattered  through  Central  and  Western 
Asia  Minor ;  the  Lazes  are  on  the  borders  of  the  Caucasus  ;  the 
Xeibecks  and  others  are  tribes  occupying  the  mountains  in¬ 
land  from  Smyrna;  Armenians  are  found  over  the  whole  of 
the  territory,  in  almost  equal  proportions  ;  the  Greeks  chiefly 
along-  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Mediterranean  and 
in  the  western  part  of  Asia  Minor,  though  in  Central  Asia 
Minor  there  are  a  number  of  Greek  villages.  In  Syria 
the  population — something  over  2,000,000— is  about 
equally  divided  between  Moslems  and  Christians.  The 
Moslems  are  in  the  main  of  the  orthodox  Sunni  sect,  but 
there  are  a  number  of  Metawileh,  and  the  Druzes  and 
Bedouin  Arabs  are  numerous.  There  are  also  about 
250,000  Nusairiyeh.  The  Christians  are  chiefly  orthodox 
Greeks  and  Maronites ;  there  are  some  Armenians,  Jacobites 


4© 


JEWS. 


and  others.  The  Druzes  and  Bedouin  Arabs  are  found 
chiefly  in  the  Hauran  east  of  the  Lebanon  ranges.  In 
Mesopotamia,  the  population  is  chiefly  Moslem  and  Arab, 
though  there  are  a  number  of  Yezidis  in  the  region  of  Mosul. 
The  Christian  races  are  found  in  the  mountains  between  the 
Tigris  and  the  Persian  border,  and  include  Jacobites,  Nes-  • 
torians  and  Chaldeans;  Armenians  are  also  scattered  through¬ 
out  the  whole  region. 

o 

Jews  are  found  in  large  numbers  in  Constantinople,  Smyrna 
and  Salonica,  and  in  smaller  communities  all  over  the  land 
wherever  there  is  trade.  They  are  very  largely  Spanish  in 
their  origin,  having  fled  to  the  Levant  at  the  time  of  the  per¬ 
secution  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  They  include  the 
wealthiest  and  the  poorest  of  their  class.  Many  of  the 
bankers  are  Jews,  and  their  hold  upon  the  finances  of  the 
country  is  very  strong.  They  also  control  certain  branches 
of  trade,  are  very  largely  money-changers,  and  to  a  degree 
artisans.  They  occupy  certain  definite  quarters  in  the  different 
cities,  which  have  the  appearance  familiarly  associated  with 
the  Ghetto  of  Venice.  They  have  the  same  general  charac¬ 
teristics  as  their  fellows  in  other  lands,  are  shrewd,  keen  bar¬ 
gainers,  but  frequently  find  more  than  their  match  in  the 
Christians.  They  are  looked  down  upon  and  despised  by 
Turks  and  Christians  alike  except  when  their  wealth  makes 
them  the  arbiters  of  the  financial  fortunes  of  the  empire  and 
of  individuals.  Many  of  the  wealthier  class  are  men  of  high 
character,  universally  respected  for  their  ability  and  holding 
a  favored  position  in  society.  As  to  their  numbers  it  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  give  any  figures.  In  Constantinople  there  may  be 
75,000,  and  in  the  empire,  aside  from  Palestine,  perhaps 
1 50,000  to  200,000. 


FOREIGNERS. 


41 


Almost  all  foreign  countries  are  represented  in  Turkey. 
Those  that  furnish  the  largest  number  are  probably  Italy, 
Greece,  France,  Germany,  Austria,  England  and  Russia. 
Italians  are  numerous  in  the  cities  on  the  seaboard,  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  shipping  interests.  The  French  are  merchants, 
bankers,  and  to  a  degree  professional  men,  as  also  are  the 
Germans.  Austrian  subjects  are  not  to  a  great  degree  pure 
Austrians,  but  Hungarians,  Bosnians,  etc.,  interested  in  trade. 
The  English  colony  has  been  at  times  a  very  large  one. 
During  the  reign  of  Abd-ul-Aziz,  English  mechanics  were 
brought  into  the  country  in  large  numbers,  and  the  various 
departments  of  the  navy,  army  and  public  works  were  managed 
almost  entirely  by  them.  At  the  present  time  their  number 
has  greatly  diminished.  They  are  still  employed  to  a  degree 
by  the  government  as  engineers,  but  their  places  are  being 
taken  by  others.  There  are  a  number  of  English  mercantile 
houses,  but  the  Germans  have  outstripped  them  in  the  con¬ 
duct  of  trade  with  the  interior,  and  the  community  is  not  as 
strong  as  it  used  to  be.  There  is  a  large  number  of  families 
of  these  various  nationalities  connected  with  the  diplomatic 
circles,  and  Pera  Society,  as  it  is  termed,  is  very  largely  com¬ 
posed  of  them,  together  with  the  bankers  and  the  wealthiest 
merchants. 

\ 

The  Americans  resident  in  Turkey  are  almost  entirely 
American  missionaries.  They  number  in  all  not  far  from  300 
adults,  and  are  found  in  all  the  chief  cities  of  the  empire, 
their  headquarters  being  in  Constantinople  and  Beirut.  Fuller 
statements  as  to  their  location  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on 
missions.  There  are  other  Americans,  some  merchants,  a 
few  professional  men,  chiefly  physicians,  and  a  few  interested 
in  one  or  another  form  of  concession  from  the  Turkish 


42 


LEVANTINES. 


/ 

Government.  The  missionaries,  however,  form  by  far  the 
bulk  of  the  American  community. 

Mention  should  also  be  made  of  a  class  peculiar  to  Turkey, 
known  as  Levantines.  These  are  generally  descendants  of 
foreigners,  English,  French,  or  others  who  have  settled  in  the 
seaboard  cities,  married  women  of  the  country  and,  while 
retaining  their  political  connections  with  the  country  from 
which  they  originally  came,  have  become  thoroughly  Oriental¬ 
ized  in  many  respects,  in  their  manners,  customs  and  ideas. 
They  are,  as  a  rule,  very  capable,  having  all  the  shrewdness 
of  the  East,  and  are  apt  to  be  equally  devoid  of  moral  princi¬ 
ple.  In  fact  the  term  Levantine  has  become  in  great  degree 
a  term  of  reproach,  indicating  a  general  lack  of  moral  fiber. 
Many  of  them,  however,  are  persons  of  high  character  and 
considerable  influence. 

Each  of  these  different  races  has  its  own  particular  and  dis¬ 
tinctive  characteristics,  to  be  noted  in  connection  with  the 
specific  description  of  each  race.  There  are,  however,  certain 
general  statements  to  be  made  which  come  in  place  here. 
The  first  thing  to  be  noted  is  the  marked  unity,  or  perhaps 
better,  similarity  between  the  different  races.  Notwithstand¬ 
ing  diversity  of  origin  and  language,  it  is  by  no  means  easy 
for  the  uninitiated  to  draw  the  lines  of  distinction.  This  is 
due  partly  to  the  fact  of  the  general  mingling  of  the  races, 
partly  to  the  fact  that  dress  and  general  habits  of  life  are 
regulated  more  by  climate  and  physical  conditions,  than  by 
any  arbitrary  rule  of  government  or  society.  In  the  first 
place  there  is  comparatively  little  pure  blood  except  among 
the  Christians.  In  certain  sections,  notably  the  region  of 
Asia  Minor,  formerly  occupied  by  the  Seljuk  domain,  the 
Turks  are  exceptionally  pure-blooded,  but  on  the  seaboard 


MOSLEMS  PREDOMINANT. 


43 


there  is  a  large  admixture  of  blood  of  other  races.  The  in¬ 
troduction  of  Georgian,  Circassian  and  even  Armenian  and 
Greek  women  into  the  harems  of  the  Turkish  nobles  has  had 
a  perceptible  effect.  So  also  the  general  fact  that  the  Turk 
is  the  dominant  race  has  made  large  numbers  of  others  of 
entirely  distinct  racial  origin  ambitious  to  take  the  name  of 
Turk.  Thus  in  Eastern  Turkey,  especially  in  the  cities  of 
Erzrum,  Bitlis,  Van  and  Diarbekir,  there  is  comparatively 
little  of  pure  Turkish  blood,  the  great  majority  of  those  pass¬ 
ing  under  that  name  being  of  Kurdish  origin.  Tne  same 
thing  is  found  elsewhere  in  Northern  Syria,  and  to  a  degree 
in  European  Turkey.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  large 
numbers  of  Moslems  called  by  various  racial  names  are  orig¬ 
inally  of  Christian  blood.  In  the  early  conquest  of  the  land 
many  villages  and  even  communities  accepted  Islam  under 
the  pressure  of  the  sword  and  because  of  weak  faitn  in  their 
own  religion,  due  chiefly  to  the  ignorance  enforced  by  ec¬ 
clesiastics.  Thus  in  the  mountains  of  Southern  and  Eastern 
Turkey  there  are  whole  communities  known  now  as  Kurdish 
which  were  originally  of  the  same  blood  and  the  same  charac¬ 
teristics  as  their  neighbors  now  called  Jacobites.  Again  in 
European  Turkey  there  is  comparatively  little  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  Moslem  Albanian  and  the  Greek  Mountaineer  of 
the  same  section.  The  Moslem  Pomak  of  the  Rhodope  Moun¬ 
tains  on  the  southern  borders  of  Eastern  Rumelia  can  with 
difficulty  be  distinguished  from  the  Bulgarians,  where  they 
are  engaged  in  similar  pursuits  and  occupy  similar  territory. 
In  Syria  and  Mesopotamia  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  draw 
racial  distinctions.  The  line  between  Moslem  and  Christian 
in  Aleppo,  Mosul,  Bagdad  or  Beirut  is  practically  impercept¬ 
ible  except  as  occasional  difference  of  dress  or  bearing  is  ob- 


44 


EASILY  GOVERNED. 


served.  As  we  have  said,  almost  the  only  peoples  who  have 
kept  their  nationality  clearly  distinct  are  the  Armenians, 
Greeks,  and  there  may  be  added  the  Bulgarians.  Yet  as  was 
inevitable,  these  have  been  to  a  considerable  decree  affected  ; 
so  that  while  the  population  of  the  Turkish  Empire  is  thor¬ 
oughly  heterogeneous,  there  is  to  the  chance  traveler  com¬ 
paratively  little  distinction  to  be  made  between  the  men  of  the 
different  races.  Among  the  women  the  different  conception 
of  womanhood  makes  a  very  marked  distinction,  and  on  the 
street  certainly  even  the  most  casual  observer  finds  little  dif¬ 
ficulty  in  distinguishing  between  Moslem  and  Christian. 

One  general  characteristic  of  the  populations  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  is  that  they  are  easily  governed.  This  does 
not  mean  that  they  are  lacking  in  bravery,  but  the  effect  of 
the  centuries  has  been  to  impress  upon  them  the  necessity  of 
submission  to  whatever  law  is  dominant  in  the  empire.  The 
Kurds  are  in  the  main  thorough  cowards.  With  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  those  in  the  South  they  are  always  amenable  to  a 
strong  hand  and  a  very  slight  show  of  real  force  on  the  part 
of  any  government  is  sufficient  to  secure  their  obedience. 
Travelers  are  usually  able  to  control  them  even  in  the  wildest 
sections.  It  has  been  repeatedly  said  that  a  very  small  body 
of  European  troops  with  mountain  artillery  could  pass  from 
one  end  of  Turkey  to  the  other,  even  in  times  of  general 
anarchy,  and  meet  with  very  little  opposition.  This  as  a  gene¬ 
ral  statement  is  true.  At  the  same  time,  organized  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  Turkish  Government  with  its  regular  army, 
would  present  an  opposition  which  the  strongest  of  European 
armies  might  hestitate  to  meet.  Among  the  Christians  there 
has  been  no  organization  against  the  Turkish  Government, 
with  the  exception  of  two  small  sections.  The  mountain 


r  i  « 


LANGUAGES. 


45 


Nestorians  are  practically  independent  on  the  Persian  border; 
nominally  they  pay  a  certain  tribute ;  sometimes  they  pay, 
sometimes  they  do  not.  The  Armenians  of  Zeitun  have 
been  from  time  immemorial  practically  independent.  About 
20  years  ago  they  submitted  to  the  Turkish  rule  on  certain 
conditions,  which  were  accepted  by  the  Turkish  Government. 
Their  recent  revolt  and  the  persistency  with  which  they  held 
out  against  the  Turkish  troops  manifest  the  character  of  the 
people.  Undoubtedly  they  were  assisted  in  great  degree  by 
the  topography  of  the  country,  but  that  was  by  no  means 
the  strongest  feature  of  their  resistance.  Aside  from  these 
two  sections  the  Christians  have  been  the  prey  of  the  Turkish 
Government  and  have  never  organized  in  opposition  to  it. 
The  reasons  for  this  will  be  apparent  in  the  chapters  relating 
to  the  general  history  of  the  empire  and  the  condition  of  the 
Christians. 

The  languages  of  Turkey  are  Turkish,  Kurdish,  Arabic, 
Syriac  and  Bulgarian.  The  Turkish  is  the  official  language 
of  the  entire  empire  and  is  used  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
everywhere  except  in  the  remote  villages  of  Kurdistan, 
Mesopotamia  and  Syria  and  throughout  Arabia.  Arabic  is 
spoken  everywhere  south  of  the  Taurus  Mountains,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  cities  in  the  vicinity  of  Aintab  and  Marash. 
Kurdish  is  used  in  the  mountains  of  Eastern  Turkey  and  to 
a  limited  extent  in  the  mountainous  sections  of  Asia  Minor. 
Armenian  is  spoken  over  the  entire  empire  wherever  there 
are  Armenians.  Greek  is  used  along  the  borders  of  the 
Black  Sea,  the  Archipelago  and  the  Mediterranean  and  to  a 
very  limited  degree  inland.  Syriac  is  used  among  the 
Nestorians  and  Jacobites,  chiefly  the  former,  in  the  mountains 
of  Eastern  Turkey.  The  use  of  Bulgarian  is  confined  to 


46 


CHARACTERISTICS. 


Bulgaria,  Eastern  Rumelia  and  Macedonia.  Constantinople 
itself  is  a  babel,  all  the  different  Oriental  and  many  of  the 
European  languages  being  found  there  in  everyday  use. 

Turkish  is  spoken  by  the  Turks  and  Circassians  and  the 
various  Moslem  tribes,  also  to  a  considerable  degree  by 
the  Kurds,  Armenians  and  Greeks  and  by  government 
officials  everywhere.  Certain  sections  of  the  Armenians, 
especially  those  in  Central  Asia  Minor,  from  Sivas  west  to 
Angora  and  Cesarea,  and  those  south  of  the  Taurus  in  the 
vicinity  of  Marash  and  Aintab,  have  in  years  past  used 
Turkish  almost  entirely,  preserving  their  ancestral  language 
only  in  the  church  services.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Greeks  in 
Central  Asia  Minor.  Arabic  is  used  by  Moslems  and  Chris¬ 
tians  alike  in  the  sections  where  it  is  the  vernacular.  Kur¬ 
dish  is  spoken  both  by  Moslems  and  Christians.  Bulgarian 
is  used  solely  by  Bulgarians.  All  of  these  languages  vary 
somewhat  in  their  characteristics,  according  to  the  section 
where  they  are  used  and  the  class  of  people  by  which  they 
are  spoken.  Thus  the  Arabic  of  the  plains  and  of  Egypt  is 
much  milder  in  its  form  than  that  found  in  the  mountains. 
The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  Turkish  and  the  Armenian  of 
Bitlis,  and  the  people  of  that  section  are  almost  unintelligible  to 
those  farther  west.  The  Greek  of  the  Turkish  Empire  is  also 
quite  different  in  many  respects  from  that  of  Greece  proper. 

The  Arabic  and  Greek  languages  are  so  well  known  as  not 
to  need  any  particular  description.  They  are  essentially  the 
same  as  they  always  have  been  and  are  well  known  in  litera¬ 
ture.  The  Arabic  is  one  of  the  richest  of  all  the  Oriental 
languages  in  its  literature.  The  character  is  difficult  to  learn 
and  the  construction  is  so  involved  that  comparatively  few 
foreigners  become  masters  of  it.  It  is  said  of  Dr.  Van 


TURKISH. 


47 


Dyck,  the  eminent  missionary  at  Beirut,  that  he  could  speak 
Arabic  so  well  as  to  deceive  even  the  Arabs  themselves,  and 
on  one  occasion  it  is  reported  that  this  very  facility  in  the  use 
of  the  languages  operated  to  create  a  prejudice  that  really  at 
one  time  endangered  his  life,  because  they  could  not  under¬ 
stand  how  any  man  who  could  speak  Arabic  as  well  as  that 
could  be  a  foreigner  and  claim  the  protection  which  he 
demanded. 

The  Turkish  language  is  peculiar  in  many  respects.  Orig¬ 
inally  a  Tartar  dialect,  it  has  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
Saxon.  It  is  terse  and  strong  in  its  form  of  expression,  and 
to  a  considerable  degree  monosyllabic.  The  Turks,  however, 
passing  through  Persia,  came  very  much  under  the  influence 
of  that  language  and  felt  the  softening  influences  of  it.  The 
Persian,  as  spoken  by  the  Persians,  is  smooth  and  flowing, 
liquid  as  any  of  the  Pacific  Island  languages,  and  even  more 
so  than  the  Italian.  The  way  in  which  an  educated  Persian 
uses  his  own  language  is  unsurpassed  for  delicacy  of  expres¬ 
sion  or  sound.  Passing  from  Persia  and  accepting  the  Ivoran, 
the  Turks  came  under  the  influence  of  the  Arabic  language, 
and  the  Turkish  of  to-day  is  the  result  of  the  commingling  of 
the  three  elements.  As  a  consequence  it  is  an  exceedingly 
rich  language.  As  it  is  ordinarily  spoken  it  is  not  at  all  diffi¬ 
cult  to  learn,  but  to  use  it  in  literature  correctly  and  with  the 
appropriate  adaptation  of  the  forms  derived  from  the  Arabic 
and  Persian,  requires  an  amount  of  study  and  skill  such  as 
comparatively  few  have  been  able  to  bring  to  it.  The  charac¬ 
ter  used  is  the  Arabic,  which,  however,  is  not  entirely  adapted 
to  the  simpler  Tartar  forms,  and  as  a  result  there  is  more  or 
less  of  reduplication  of  letters.  While  the  letteiing  of  the 
three  languages,  Turkish,  Arabic,  and  Persian,  is  the  same, 


ARMENIAN. 


48 

each  language  has  its  own  distinct  form,  so  that  a  book  printed 
in  the  type  favored  by  the  Turks  will  not  be  acceptable  either 
to  the  Persians  or  the  Arabs,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the 
others.  The  tendency  of  education  with  Turkish,  as  with 
Arabic,  is  to  soften  the  gutterals,  of  which  there  are  several 
harsh  ones,  and  Turkish  as  spoken  in  Constantinople  by  the 
educated  is  a  smooth  and  flowing  language. 

The  Armenian  is  naturally  a  harsh  language,  the  strong 
gutterals,  aspirates  and  sibilants  affecting  it  materially.  Here 
too  is  noticed  the  marked  effect  of  education,  and  the  Armenian 
spoken  in  the  western  part  of  Asia  Minor  is  very  mild  com¬ 
pared  with  that  along  the  mountains  and  even  on  the  eastern 
plains.  The  Armenians  of  the  Caucasus  and  Northern  Persia 
use  a  form  of  Armenian  which  is  somewhat  distinct  from  that 
used  by  those  in  Turkey.  The  basis  of  all  is  the  ancient 
Armenian,  which  has  a  very  simple  and  direct  construction, 
not  unlike  the  English.  A  sentence  in  the  old  Armenian 
version  of  the  Scriptures  reads  word  for  word  almost  the 
same  as  the  corresponding  sentence  in  the  English  version. 
The  modern  language  as  used  by  the  Armenians  of  Turkey 
has  been  to  a  considerable  degree  affected  by  contact  with 
Turkish  and  has  degenerated  in  that  respect.  For  some 
years  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  revert  to  the  more  ancient 
form,  and  the  teachers  in  the  Armenian  schools  everywhere 
have  exerted  all  the  influence  possible  in  that  line.  The  result 
is  manifest  in  their  literature.  The  version  of  the  Bible  pre¬ 
pared  by  Elias  Riggs,  D.  D.,  of  the  American  Board,  represents 
the  best  of  what  is  known  as  modern  Armenian  of  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago.  But  of  late  years  there  has  been  felt  the 
necessity  of  a  revision  to  accord  more  closely  to  the  type  of 
the  ancient  language.  This  tendency  is  in  the  line  of  sim- 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES. 


49 


plicity.  On  the  other  hand,  among  the  Greeks,  while  there  is 
an  increasing  desire  for  the  ancient  Greek,  which  is  quite  dis¬ 
tinct  from  the  modern,  an  increasing  familiarity  with  it  does 
not  appear  to  be  as  much  of  an  approach  to  the  ancient  con¬ 
struction  in  the  ordinary  conversation  as  is  the  case  in  the 
Armenian. 

The  Bulgarian  language  is  not  unlike  the  Russian,  both  in 
its  character  and  general  construction,  and  belongs  to  the 
general  Slav  family. 

The  Kurdish  language  is  entirely  unique,  though  some 
Kurdish  scholars  have  claimed  that  it  was  parallel  to  the  old 
Persian.  It  is  a  rough  language,  and  yet  has  certain  musical 
qualities,  and  its  poetry  and  songs  are  like  those  of  so  many 
mountain  sections,  exceedingly  full  of  sentiment.  Even  the 
wildest  of  the  men  seem  to  come  under  its  influence  most 
powerfully. 

In  Constantinople  and  along  the  seaboard  foreign  languages 
are  used  to  a  considerable  degree.  The  diplomatic  language 
is  French  almost  entirely.  There  is  a  considerable  amount 
of  Italian  used  in  the  seaports,  and  not  a  little  German.  The 
State  papers  for  communication  between  the  ambassadors  in 
the  Sublime  Porte  are  entirely  in  French,  though  decrees  of 
the  government,  of  course,  are  written  in  Turkish.  This 
mingling  of  languages  has  necessitated  the  employment  of 
interpreters,  and  a  large  number  of  people,  not  merely  con¬ 
nected  with  the  embassies,  but  in  various  departments  of 
business,  are  employed  to  transfer  from  one  language  to 
another  such  documents  as  may  be  necessary.  The  use  of 
English  is  widely  extended.  The  study  of  English  in  the 
different  schools  of  the  American  missionaries  and  also  in 
other  schools  has  operated  very  largely  to  increase  the  use? 


5° 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


and  English  commerce  has  extended  to  a  marked  degree. 
This  latter,  however,  has  yielded  in  some  respects  to  German, 
so  that  the  German  language  is  known  and  spoken  more  and 
more.  As  a  rule,  Armenians  in  the  cities  all  speak  Armenian 
and  Turkish.  Armenian  merchants  almost  invariably  add  to 
this  French,  and  in  not  a  few  instances  Greek.  In  fact  no  one 
can  do  business  successfully  in  the  seaports  without  the 
knowledge  of  Turkish,  French  and  Greek.  Smyrna  is  almost 
entirely  a  Greek  city,  and  even  the  Armenians  use  the  lan¬ 
guage  to  a  great  degree.  The  Greeks,  however,  seldom,  if 
ever,  learn  Armenian. 

In  traveling,  a  knowledge  of  Turkish  will  carry  one  with 
ease  over  the  whole  empire,  except  in  Syria  and  Mesopotamia 
and  a  few  sections  of  Kurdistan.  Even  there,  however, 
some  one  may  usually  be  found  who  has  enough  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  Turkish  for  ordinary  use.  On  the  seaboard, 
Greek  will  be  of  advantage,  but  is  by  no  means  necessary. 
All  large  business  houses  have  some  one  who  can  converse 
in  any  one  of  the  languages  of  the  country  or  of  Europe. 
One  effect  of  this  is  that  accurate  use  of  any  one  language 
is  hindered.  At  a  dinner  table  in  Constantinople  it  will  fre¬ 
quently  be  the  case  that  the  conversation  will  turn  from  one 
language  to  another,  and  Turkish,  French,  Greek,  German, 
Italian  or  English  may  be  used.  When  such  a  condition 
exists  there  will  be  a  general  conversational  use  of  all,  but 
accurate  scholarly  use  of  any  one  is  rare.  In  the  schools, 
Turkish,  French  and  English  are  the  most  generally  taught, 
instruction  in  the  other  languages  being  chiefly  confined  to 
those  who  use  them  as  their  own  vernacular. 


CHAPTER  III. 


RELIGIONS. 

Islam  and  Christianity- — A  few  Pagan  Communities — Origin  of  Mohammedanism  The 
Koran— The  Traditions— Extent  of  Islam — Present  Condition— Effect  upon  the  Turks- 
Contact  with  Civilization — Sects — Oriental  Christianity  Characteristics. 

THE  religions  of  Turkey  are  in  general  two — Moham¬ 
medanism  and  Christianity.  The  semi-pagan  forms  of 
faith  held  by  the  Nusairiyeh,  Yezidis  and  Druzes  are  spoken 
of  in  another  chapter  in  connection  with  an  account  of  those 
races.  This  is  not  the  place  for  a  scientific  statement  of  the 
general  subject  of  Mohammedanism.  The  purpose  of  this 
volume  is  to  set  forth  the  situation  of  the  Turkish  Empire  as 
it  is,  and  we  have  to  deal  with  Mohammedanism  not  as  a 
theory  or  a  doctrine,  but  as  a  fact.  At  the  same  time  some 
understanding  of  the  doctrine  is  essential  in  order  to  realize 
how  potent  a  factor  it  is  in  the  present  situation. 

Mohammedanism  is  primarily  a  historical  religion,  based 
upon  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  absolute  unity  of  God  and 
the  recognition  by  God  of  Mohammed  as  his  latest  and  most 
approved  prophet.  Without  entering  into  the  question  of 
the  sanity  or  insanity  of  Mohammed  himself,  it  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  this  Arab  imbibed  with  his  earliest  teachings  the 
doctrine  which  was  held  by  the  Jews,  and  a  few  in  Arabia,  of 
the  power  of  the  Deity.  Apparently  the  teachings  of  the 


52 


MOHAMMED. 


Hebrews  had  left  their  trace  upon  him,  and  his  mind  dwel¬ 
ling  upon  the  precepts  of  Moses  and  comparing  them  with 
what  he  saw  of  the  Christians,  developed  within  him  a 
hostility  to  any  form  of  what  seemed  to  him  idolatry,  such  as 
he  found  existent  everywhere.  Among  the  pagan  tribes 
there  were  said  to  have  been  365  images  of  the  gods,  who 
were  looked  upon  as  the  children  of  Allah,  the  creator  of  all, 
whose  wife  was  Al-hat,  and  the  Meccans  looked  upon  their 
local  deities  as  the  daughters  of  this  idol.  Idols  were  found 
in  every  house  and  formed  an  important  article  of  manufac¬ 
ture.  Religion  was  a  sort  of  barter,  and  festivals  and  pil¬ 
grimages  made  up  a  large  part  of  religious  life  and  worship. 
At  the  same  time  the  form  of  Christianity  was  of  the  most 
inferior  type.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  practically  a 
sort  of  tritheism  in  which  the  three  persons  were  God  the 
Father,  God  the  Son  and  the  Virgin  Mary.  To  Mohammed 
there  seemed  little  difference  between  the  two  and  both 
appeared  to  him  the  very  lowest  forms  of  religious  faith,  and 
he  was  stirred  with  an  earnest  desire  to  know  more.  This, 
according  to  the  idea  of  the  time,  he  thought  to  accomplish 
by  a  hermit  life  and  would  spend  days  in  a  lonely  cave. 
While  here  it  is  probable  that  epileptic  fits  would  come  upon 
him  and  there  would  be  what  he  considered  ecstatic  reveries 
in  which  revelations  appeared  to  him.  The  story  of  the 
fierce  persecution  which  he  suffered  at  the  hands  of  his  tribe 
is  a  most  interesting  portion  of  history.  From  the  time  of 
his  fleeing  from  Mecca  to  Medina,  in  622,  which  marks  the 
era  of  Mohammedanism,  his  advance  was  rapid.  In  eight 
years  at  the  head  of  10,000  men  he  entered  Mecca  in  triumph. 
He  only  lived  two  years  longer,  but  he  had  laid  the  founda¬ 
tion  for  a  religious  power  of  marvelous  vigor  and  extent. 


THE  HAMIDIEH  MOSQUE,  located  close  by  the  Sultan’s  palace,  at 
Yildiz,  to  which  he  goes  every  Friday  for  service.  In  former  times  it  was  the  custom 
of  the  Sultan  to  attend  service  on  Friday  in  different  mosques  of  the  city,  but  Abdul 
Hammed  II.  has  confined  his  attention  to  this  mosque,  chiefly  from  fear  of  assassi¬ 
nation  in  the  public  streets  of  the  city. 


MS 


lispIPBIs 


V  b  ■<  ■■■■ 


Wi  wz 


'■??■?*& ssi. 


TURKISH  DERVISH.  The  dervishes  correspond  in  the  Moslem  com¬ 
munities  to  the  special  orders  in  the.  Roman  Catholic  Church.  There  are  different 
classes,  itinerant  and  local.  This  is  one  of  the  better  class  of  local  dervishes.  They 
are  feared  by  the  people  rather  than  respected,  and  are  usually  men  of  ability  and 
considerable  force  ;  fanatical  in  the  extreme  and  bitter  haters  of  all  Christians. 


THE  KORAN. 


55 


As  to  his  character,  those  who  have  studied  him  most  say 
that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  sincerity  and  his  conduct 
was  in  the  main  beyond  reproach.  He  believed  himself  to 
be  a  divinely  appointed  messenger  for  the  overturning  of 
idolatry,  and  for  years  endured  the  hostility  and  taunts  of  his 
people  with  apparently  no  further  motive  than  their  reforma¬ 
tion.  At  a  later  time  other  characteristics  appeared  of  a 
much  lower  grade.  Wealth  and  glory  mingled  with  his 
reform  ideas.  Cruelty,  greed  and  the  grossest  sensuality 
were  not  merely  allowed  but  encouraged  by  his  teachings, 
and  the  most  successful  portion  of  his  life,  so  far  as  his  public 
career  was  concerned,  made  it  appear  that  he  was  a  thor¬ 
oughly  self-deceived  man. 

The  Koran  is  a  volume  divided  into  114  chapters  or  suras, 
made  up  in  a  volume  not  quite  as  large  as  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment.  It  constitutes  the  revelation  proclaimed  by  him  as 
received  during  the  latter  portion  of  his  life.  These  were 
originally  written  on  all  sorts  of  material,  “  bits  of  stone, 
leather  and  thigh-bones,”  but  had  their  strongest  hold  in  the 
retentive  memory  of  the  Arabs,  which  assists  their  marvelous 
power  of  story-telling.  These  were  gathered  together  after 
his  death,  in  the  caliphate  of  Othman,  and  the  edition  then 
prepared  has  been  the  standard  edition  for  the  Moslem  world 
ever  since.  It  is  written  in  the  Meccan  dialect  and  held  to  be 
the  absolute  standard  of  the  Arabic  language,  so  beautiful 
that  its  very  style  is  proof  of  its  divine  origin.  The  doctrine 
of  the  Koran  is  thoroughly  simple.  The  fundamental  teach¬ 
ings  are  the  unity  of  God,  the  final  judgment  and  absolute 
submission  to  his  will  or  “Islam.”  The  confession  of  faith 
is  simply,  “  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his 

prophet.”  The  general  belief  includes  belief  in  God,  angels, 
4 


THE  BIBLE. 


56 

the  Scriptures,  the  resurrection  and  day  of  judgment,  God’s 
absolute  decree  and  predestination  of  both  good  and  evil. 
In  practice  it  requires  prayers,  alms,  fasting  and  the  pilgrim¬ 
age  to  Mecca.  In  its  relation  to  Christianity  the  Koran 
thoroughly  recognizes  the  Scriptures,  both  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  and  the  prophets,  from  Abraham  to  Jesus, 
are  acknowledged  as  divinely  sent  and  of  authority  only  less 
than  Mohammed  himself.  The  result  of  this  is  that  a  thor¬ 
oughly  orthodox  Mohammedan,  well  grounded  in  his  own 
faith,  will  always  accept  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  merely 
claiming  that  wherever  that  comes  in  contact  with  the  Koran 
the  Koran  supersedes  it  as  being  a  later  revelation.  A 
Kurdish  Sheik  with  whom  the  author  spent  a  Sunday  in  the 
city  of  Rowandiz,  said,  “  Why  do  not  the  great  Bible  societies 
of  England  and  America  print  the  Koran  and  the  Bible 
together  ?  Both  are  revelations  from  God  ;  the  only  difference 
is,  that  the  Koran  being  later  is  more  authoritative.  Print  them 
both  together  and  then  we  shall  have  the  complete  revela¬ 
tion.  ”  This  fact  explains  in  great  degree  the  position  of  the 
Turkish  Government  with  regard  to  the  Scriptures.  So  long 
as  they  thought  that  there  was  no  danger  of  the  Christians’ 
Bible  superseding  the  Koran  they  were  entirely  willing  that 
it  should  be  printed.  It  was  only  when  they  learned  that  the 
teaching  of  the  Bible  was  antagonistic  to  the  Koran  that  they 
made  every  effort  to  hinder  its  publication  and  circulation  ; 
and  in  the  whole  contest  the  strongest  argument  and  the  one 
which  they  could  not  answer  was  that  based  upon  the  absolute 
recognition  of  the  Bible  by  the  Koran  and  the  teachings  of 
Mohammed. 

Secondary  to  the  Koran  in  form  yet  practically  overpower¬ 
ing  it  are  the  traditions :  the  “unread  revelations,”  the  “  unin- 


NUMBER  OF  MOHAMMEDANS.  57 

spired  record  of  inspired  sayings.”  They  refer  “  not  only  to 
what  Mohammed  said  and  did,  but  what  he  allowed  others  to 
say  unrebuked.”  As  was  inevitable,  the  mass  of  these  tradi¬ 
tions  is  very  great  and  their  influence  is  proportionate.  Any 
statement  of  Mohammedanism  based  upon  the  Koran  alone 
is  sure  to  be  misleading.  That  together  with  the  traditions 
must  be  understood  in  order  to  gain  a  clear  and  accurate  con¬ 
ception  of  what  the  religion  is.  It  is  due  to  this  fact  that  Mo¬ 
hammedanism  has  adapted  itself  with  such  marked  success  to 
the  most  varying  conditions.  It  is  as  powerful  in  Central 
Asia  as  in  Central  Africa.  It  appeals  to  the  educated  Moslem 
of  North  India  and  to  the  ignorant  and  brutal  Kurd.  It  num¬ 
bers  among  its  votaries  men  of  every  grade  of  intellectual 
ability.  This  is  illustrated  by  the  statement  as  to  the  extent 
to  which  the  religion  has  spread  over  the  world.  Any  accu¬ 
rate  estimate  is  simply  impossible  owing  to  the  fact  that  in 
Moslem  regions  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  complete  census 
known.  The  Encyclopedia  of  Missions  presents  the  following 
table  derived  from  the  Statesmans  year-book  published  in 
1890 : 

Europe. 


Rumania . 2,000 

Bulgaria . 668,173 

Servia  . 

Bosnia  and  Herzegovina .  492,710 

Montenegro .  10,000 

Greece .  24,000 

Turkey  in  Europe . . . 2,000,000 

Russia  in  Europe .  2,600,000 


Total  for  Europe .  5,811,452 

Asia. 

Turkey  in  Asia  (including  Arabia) .  22,000,000 

Persia .  7>5^°j^°° 

Bokhara . 2,500,000 


53 


EFFECT  OF  THE  RELIGION. 


Russia  in  Caucasus .  2,000,000 

Khiva .  700,000 

Russia  in  Central  Asia .  3,000,000 

Siberia .  61,000 

Afghanistan .  4,000,000 

India . 50.121,595 

CeyIon .  197,775 

Beluchistan .  500,000 

China . 30,000,000 

Australasia .  1 5 ,000,000 


Total  for  Asia . 137,640,970 

Africa. 

Egypt .  6,000,000 

Zanzibar . 200,000 

Morocco .  5,000,000 

Tripoli .  1,000,000 

Tunis .  1,500,000 

Algeria .  3,000,000 

Bornu  (Lake  Tsad) .  5,000,000 

Wadai . 2,600,000 

Baghirmi .  1,500,000 

Egyptian  Soudan .  10,400,000 

Sokoto  and  Feudatory  States .  14,000,000 

Sahara  and  scattered .  10,000,000 


Total  for  Africa .  60,200,000 

Total  for  Europe .  5,811,452 

Total  for  Asia .  137,640,970 

Total  for  Africa .  60,200,000 


Total  Moslems .  203,652,422 


What  is  the  effect  of  Mohammedanism  upon  the  Moslems 
of  the  Turkish  Empire?  What  relation  does  it  bear  to  the 
situation  in  Turkey  to-day  ?  These  are  questions  not  alto¬ 
gether  easy  to  answer  definitely  and  conclusively.  A  general 
idea  is  gathered  from  references  made  all  through  this  volume. 
The  situation  maybe  briefly  summarized  as  follows  :  Moham¬ 
medanism  is  on  trial ;  it  finds  itself  face  to  face  with  the 
aggressive  power  of  a  reformed  Christianity;  it  no  longer 


REVIVAL. 


59 


has  to  meet  the  effete  systems  of  the  middle  ages,  weakened 
by  purely  doctrinal  discussions  that  spread  among  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Churches  for  centuries.  It  comes  in  contact  thus  with  a 
spiritual  life,  and  finds  that  it  has  suffered  itself  in  its 
conceptions  the  same  decadence  that  Christianity  had  suf¬ 
fered  when  it  started.  The  belief  in  the  unity  of  God  is 
degenerating  into  pure  and  simple  fanaticism ,  predestina¬ 
tion  to  good  has  disappeared,  and  in  place  of  it  comes  pre¬ 
destination  to  evil.  The  better  characteristics  of  the  Moslem 
influence  have  disappeared,  and  it  is  only  the  worst  elements 
that  come  to  the  surface  to-day.  True  there  is  an  element 
in  the  Moslem  Church  that  realizes,  in  a  degree  at  least,  this 
fact  and  is  making  strenuous  efforts  to  reinstate  the  spiritual 
power  to  which  the  system  has  owed  a  large  part  of  its  aggres¬ 
sive  strength,  but  it  is  doing  it  and  has  done  it  by  means 
utterly  subversive  of  the  very  ends  it  seeks  to  accomplish. 
From  time  to  time  there  go  forth  fetvahs  from  the  Moslem 
priests  commanding  the  faithful  to  attend  the  mosque  service, 
forbidding  the  faithful  to  indulge  in  certain  things  forbidden 
by  the  Moslem  laws.  But  such  edicts  accomplish  absolutely 
nothing.  There  is  still  to  a  certain  degree  the  practice  of  the 
old  asceticism.  Any  one  who  will  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Censors  in  Constantinople  will  realize  the  truth  of 
this  as  he  looks  upon  the  hard-visaged  Tartars  from  Central 
Asia,  whose  fanaticism  is  manifest  in  every  line  of  the  counte¬ 
nance.  But  with  them  their  religion  has  ceased  to  have  any 
spiritual  power.  It  has  become  nothing  more  than  a  form  of 
doctrine  identified  with  aggression  and  despotism.  Eternal 
punishments  take  the  place  of  eternal  rewards  and  threats 
overpower  promises.  This  manifests  itself  in  two  ways,  first, 
in  the  tremendous  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  the  govern- 


6o 


YOUNG  TURKEY. 


ment  to  restore  the  austerities  of  the  Moslem  faith,  and  second, 
in  the  manifestation  of  the  sternest  Moslem  arrogance  in 
the  treatment  of  the  Christians.  Scarcely  at  any  time  in 
Turkish  history  has  that  arrogance  been  more  prominent  in 
certain  sections  and  among  certain  classes.  The  scorn  and 
contempt  manifest  for  the  infidel ;  the  utter  disregard  for  the 
most  common  rights  of  humanity  ;  the  assumption  that  Chris¬ 
tians  exist  purely  and  simply  for  the  benefit  of  Mohammedans  ; 
that  rapine,  murder  and  outrage  are  not  criminal,  but  are 
absolutely  legitimate ;  that  Christian  property  has  no  rights 
that  Moslems  are  bound  to  respect;  all  these  characteristics 
are  apparent  to-day  as  they  have  not  been  at  any  time  during 
the  past  century. 

It  is  impossible  for  races  such  as  the  Moslem  races  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  to  come  into  contact  with  the  results  of  a 
Christian  civilization  without  realizing  and  acknowledging  to 
a  considerable  degree  the  advantages  of  that  civilization. 
These,  recognizing  the  fact  that  Islam  has  adapted  itself  to 
very  varying  communities  and  circumstances,  claim  that  it  has 
still  that  power  and  that  there  is  no  reason  why  the  highest 
results  of  European  progress  may  not  be  appropriated  by  the 
Moslems.  These  men  form  the  basis  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Young  Turkey  party.  They  call  for  a  constitution;  they 
demand  railroads  and  telegraphs,  electric  lighting,  free  press, 
widespread  literature,  freedom  of  thought  and  worship ;  they 
refuse  to  allow  that  attendance  upon  mosque  service  is  the 
test  of  loyalty  to  their  government.  The  strife  between  these 
two  forces  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant  facts 
in  Mohammedanism  to-day.  What  the  result  will  be  time 
only  will  show.  One  more  thing  should  be  said.  The  exclu¬ 
sive  power  of  the  Moslem  faith  has  never  been  manifested 


MORAL  CHARACTER. 


6l 


more  forcibly  than  it  is  now.  No  form  of  Christianity  has 
affected  it  to  any  appreciable  extent.  The  reasons  for  this 
will  be  recognized  by  any  who  have  followed  with  care  the 

developments  of  the  past  centurie 

They  are  to  be  found  (i)  in  the  dominating  political  power 
of  the  religion,  and  (2)  in  the  fact  that  as  yet  to  only  a  limited 
degree  has  there  been  any  general  perception  of  a  truer 
spiritual  power.  This  last  has  affected  some,  but  the  great 
mass  are  utterly  untouched.  Should  the  political  break-up 
of  the  empire  come,  then  there  are  many  indications  that  the 
ecclesiastical  power  will  weaken  and  with  it  the  force  of  the 
faith.  Many  Turks  have  spoken  of  this  in  private,  not  daring 

to  set  it  forth  in  public. 

The  great  characteristic  of  Mohammedanism  which  is  most 
manifest  in  the  dealings  of  Moslems  with  each  other  and 
with  the  world  at  large,  is  the  fact  that  it  recognizes  no  moral 
obligation  of  any  kind.  Sin  is  merely  transgression  of 
statute;  falsehood,  deception,  robbery,  murder,  have  no 
moral  quality  whatever.  They  are  entirely  legitimate  when 
used  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Moslem  State  and  even  for 
the  furtherance  of  individual  advantage.  Undoubtedly  there 
are  individual  Moslems  everywhere  who  have  a  strong  moral 
sense,  but  the  great  mass  of  the  Moslem  community  is 
utterly  ignorant  of  what  evangelical  Christians  understand  by 
the  sense  of  sin.  Mistakes  are  to  be  atoned  for  by  punishment, 
penance  or  remission  of  penalty  ;  forgiveness  in  the  Christian 
sense  of  the  term  is  almost  absolutely  unknown.  Hence 
arises  one  of  the  fundamental  difficulties  in  dealings  between 
Turkey  and  Christian  nations.  The  Christian  Governments 
unquestionably  are  bad  enough  in  this  respect,  but  the 
Moslem  Government  is  far  worse.  It  is  a  fundamental 


62 


SECTS. 


element  in  the  Moslem  creed  that  “  no  faith  is  to  be  kept  with 
an  infidel.”  This  has  been  carried  out  throughout  the  whole 
of  Turkish  history  and  will  continue  to  be  carried  out  until 
the  Moslem  system  is  overcome. 

A  word  should  be  said  with  regard  to  the  different  sects  of 
Mohammedanism.  Mohammed  himself  is  reported  to  have 
said  that  the  children  of  Israel  were  divided  into  72  sects, 
and  his  people  would  be  divided  into  73.  A  Moslem  writer 
says  that  there  are  150  sects  in  Islam,  but  the  infinite  shades 
between  them  make  them  practically  innumerable.  The  two 
great  divisions  of  the  Moslem  world  are  Sunnites  and  Shiites. 
The  first  follow  the  first  three  caliphs  after  Mohammed ;  the 
latter  regard  these  as  illegitimate  and  commence  with  the 
caliphate  of  Ali,  the  prophet’s  nephew.  The  former  embrace 
by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  Moslem  world.  The  latter  are 
chiefly  confined  to  Persia,  though  they  are  represented  in  a 
considerable  degree  in  Turkey,  especially  by  some  tribes  of 
Kurds.  The  Shiites  believe  that  the  last  Imam  is  still  alive  and 
will  appear  as  the  Mahdi  (director),  after  which  the  judgment 
day  will  follow.  Some  of  them  even  go  so  far  as  to  give  Ali 
divine  honors,  holding  him  to  be  greater  than  Mohammed. 
They  are  as  a  rule  far  more  deceitful  than  the  Sunnites,  and 
observe  certain  fasts  denied  by  the  orthodox.  The  Sunnites 
are  divided  into  four  great  sects  and  these  again  into  a  num- 
ber  of  smaller  ones.  One,  the  most  important,  includes  in 
greater  part  the  Moslems  of  Turkey,  Central  Asia  and 
Northern  India ;  the  second  those  of  Southern  India  and 
Egypt;  the  third  those  of  Morocco,  Barbary  and  Northern 
Africa  generally  ;  the  fourth  those  of  Eastern  Arabia  and 
some  parts  of  Central  Africa. 

Sikhism  is  a  strange  mixture  of  Hinduism  and  Mohamme- 


APOSTASY. 


63 


danism  in  Northern  India.  In  Persia  there  are  two  great 
sects  of  considerable  power :  the  Sufis  and  the  followers  of 
Bab.  These,  however,  have  no  relation  especially  to  Turkey. 
In  Arabia,  there  is  a  sect,  the  Wahhabees,  which  was  at  one 
time  very  powerful  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century  occasioned  the  Turkish  Government  considerable 
trouble.  The  most  prominent  development  of  Mohamme¬ 
danism  of  late  years  has  been  the  rise  of  the  Mahdi,  in  the 
Sudan.  To  describe  this  at  length  is  beyond  our  limits.  It 
arose  in  the  dissatisfaction  with  the  caliphate  of  the  Turkish 
Sultan,  and  the  belief  that  the  sheik  who  called  himself  the 
Mahdi  was  in  reality  the  one  who  was  to  lead  Islam  in  its 
final  victory  over  the  world. 

In  its  relations  to  Christianity  Islam  allows  absolutely  no 
apostasy.  The  death  penalty  is  still  existent  in  Persia,  and 
while  nominally  forbidden  in  Turkey,  it  is  at  least  exile  and 
often  death  for  any  Turk  to  accept  Christianity. 

The  different  forms  of  Christianity  are  spoken  of  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  different  races.  A  few  statements,  however, 
should  be  made  in  regard  to  them  in  general.  The  charac¬ 
teristics  manifested  by  all  the  different  Oriental  churches  are 
essentially  the  same  ;  a  strict  formalism  in  doctrinal  belief 
and  in  worship,  a  very  general  lack  of  spiritual  life  and  an 
intense  devotion  to  the  national  idea  as  identified  with  church 
life.  It  is  to  this  very  largely  that  is  due  the  racial  unity 
of  the  different  classes,  and  while  there  has  always  been 
through  the  centuries  a  great  deal  of  true  devotion  to 
Christian  faith,  it  is  unquestionably  the  fact  that  the  national 
strife  that  centered  about  propositions  or  the  most  abstruse 
facts  of  philosophical  theology,  seems  in  many  respects  impos¬ 
sible  to  those  of  different  race  and  different  education.  The 


64 


CHRISTIAN  SECTS. 

same  characteristics,  however,  that  existed  then  exist  to-day 
in  considerable  measure,  and  this  must  be  remembered  in 
all  consideration  of  the  situation  of  Christians  and  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  Christian  communities  in  the  empire. 

It  must  be  remembered  also  that  the  rivalries  first  oc¬ 
casioned  by  these  theological  differences  and  afterwards  de¬ 
veloped  by  the  peculiar  system  of  government  adopted  by 
the  Sultans,  has  done  very  much  to  intensify  the  peculiar¬ 
ities  of  each  of  these  sects.  They  are  bitterly  opposed  one 
to  the  other.  Armenians  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
Greeks,  and  Greeks  are  bitterly  opposed  to  the  Armenians ; 
Greeorian  Armenians  hate  those  of  their  own  race  connected 
with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  the  Greeks  despise 
the  Bulgarians,  although  another  branch  of  their  own  gen¬ 
eral  faith;  Nestorians,  Chaldeans,  Jacobites,  all  strive  against 
each  other.  The  position  of  the  Protestants  is  somewhat 
peculiar.  At  first  they  were  looked  upon  merely  as  one  ad¬ 
ditional  sect  developing  an  additional  nation,  and  to  that  ex¬ 
tent  detracting  from  the  power  of  those  from  whom  they 
sprung,  and  they  were  hated  by  all.  Of  late  years,  however, 
it  has  become  evident  that  they  are  no  less  national  in  their 
feeling  than  those  who  have  remained  in  the  old  churches, 
and  they  have  been  recognized  more  and  more  as  parts  of 
the  same  nations.  It  is  hoped  by  many  that,  as  Evangeli¬ 
cal  ideas  spread  in  all  the  different  communions,  there  will  re¬ 
sult  a  drawing  together,  not  necessarily  a  unifying  of  forms 
of  worship  or  statements  of  doctrinal  belief,  but  a  sympathy 
which  shall  make  them  support  one  another  rather  than 
work  against  each  other. 

One  thing  more  should  be  said.  The  general  effect  of  re¬ 
ligious  instruction  throughout  the  Levant  has  been  to  divorce 


FAITH  AND  LIFE. 


65 


the  profession  of  faith  from  any  control  of  life.  The  idea 
that  moral  conduct  was  involved  in  the  profession  of  a  creed 
seems  to  have  disappeared  from  a  good  many  lives,  and  the 
Greek  brigand  will  say  his  prayers  and  then  start  on  his  pil¬ 
laging  expedition;  the  Armenian  merchant  will  attend  service 
and  then  go  forth  to  get  the  better  of  his  opponent  in  trade 
without  the  slightest  regard  to  the  use  of  truth  in  his  deal¬ 
ings.  The  same  thing  appears  in  the  Moslem,  the  most  out¬ 
rageous  persecutions  and  terrible  cruelties  having  been 
carried  on  under  the  very  lead  of  the  Moslem  Church  and 
as  a  matter  of  faith. 


1 


1 


CHAPTER  IV. 


The  Turks. 

Their  Origin  —  Early  History  —  General  Characteristics  —  Good  Qualities — Kindness — 
Hospitality  —  Temperance  —  Honesty  —  Intellectual  Ability  —  Obedience  to  Rulers  — 
Bravery — Bad  Characteristics — Indifference  to  Suffering — Brutality — Degradation  of 
Women — Sensuality — Official  Unreliability — Fatalism — Insolence — Indolence — General 
Summary. 

THE  term  Turk  is  a  somewhat  indefinite  one.  In  general 
it  applies  to  any  or  all  of  the  different  tribes  originat¬ 
ing  east  of  the  Caspian,  and  who  have  spread  in 
varying  degrees  north,  south  and  west.  Without  undertaking- 
to  give  specific  definition,  it  is  sufficient  to  apply  the  name  to 
the  greater  part  of  the  Turanian  race,  and  for  present  pur¬ 
poses  to  limit  it  to  those  branches  that  have  at  various  times 
occupied  what  is  known  as  the  Turkish  Empire. 

According  to  a  legend,  the  common  ancestor  of  all  was  a 
mighty  king  by  the  name  of  Turk,  who  lived  in  the  time  of 
Abraham.  A  descendant  of  his,  called  Oghuz  Khan,  had  six 
sons,  whom  he  sent  one  day  to  the  chase.  Returning,  they 
brought  him  a  bow  and  arrows  which  they  had  found.  The 
bow  was  given  to  the  three  eldest  and  the  three  arrows  to  the 
younger.  The  latter  each  took  one,  but  the  first  three  divided 
the  bow  among  them,  receiving  thereby  the  name  Bosuk,  The 

Breakers.  They  were  intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  right 

(66) 


TOGRUL  BEY. 


67 


wing  of  his  army,  while  to  the  three  youngest,  called  Utschok, 
The  Three  Arrows,  was  given  the  care  of  the  left  wing. 
These  younger  ones  extended  their  rule  eastward  toward 
China  and  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Mongols.  The  others 
roamed  westward.  One  became  the  founder  of  the  Turko¬ 
mans,  another  of  the  Seljuks  and  the  third  of  the  Ottomans 
or  Osmanlis.  This,  however,  is  chiefly  legend.  What  is 
clearer  history  is  the  fact  that  varying  tribes,  with  some  evi¬ 
dent  connection  with  the  Mongols  of  Eastern  Asia,  spread 
westward  through  Russia  and  Persia,  and  encamped  upon  the 
plains  of  Mesopotamia  and  Asia  Minor.  Their  first  incur¬ 
sions  were  about  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  at  the  very  time 
when  both  Caliphate  and  Byzantine  Empire  were  showing  the 
weakness  of  effeminacy.  At  first  their  progress  was,  through 
lack  of  any  organization  and  unity,  of  little  moment.  They 
furnished  the  mercenaries  for  the  Caliphs,  and  while  occasion¬ 
ally  governing  one  section  or  another,  held  their  power  in 
very  uncertain  hands. 

The  first  chieftain  to  accomplish  anything  like  permanent 
rule  was  Togrul  Bey,  the  grandson  of  Seljuk,  an  Ameer  of 
Turkestan,  who  wrested  one  country  after  another  from  its 
princes  and  reigned  from  Bokhara  to  Syria,  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  Indus  to  the  Black  Sea.  He  bequeathed  his  vast 
empire  to  the  famous  Alp  Arslan,  who  crossed  the  Euphrates, 
conquered  Armenia  and  Georgia,  and  came  up  to  the  very 
borders  of  the  already  shrunken  Byzantine  Empire.  Its 
emperor  sought  to  check  the  advance  of  the  chieftain,  but 
was  defeated,  captured,  and  only  received  his  liberty  as  a 
special  favor  of  his  conqueror.  He,  however,  granted  it  not 
so  much  from  any  considerations  of  humanity,  as  because  he 
realized  that,  brave  and  intrepid  as  his  horsemen  were,  they 


68 


MALEK  SHAH. 


were  no  match  in  the  long  run  for  the  disciplined  legions  of 
what  was  to  him  a  new  world.  As  so  often  is  the  case,  the 
adventurous  rush  westward  left  his  ancestral  region  exposed 
to  enemies.  On  his  return  to  reinstate  himself  in  Bokhara, 
Alp  Arslan  was  killed,  and  his  son,  Malek  Shah,  came  to  the 
throne.  His  reign,  1072-1092,  was  the  golden  era  of  the 
Seljuk  dynasty.  His  empire  extended  from  the  Caspian  to 
the  Mediterranean,  from  Khorassan  to  the  Bosporus.  The 
Fatimite  Caliphs  of  Egypt  were  practically  under  his  power, 
and  from  his  capital  at  Konieh  (Iconium)  he  governed  the 
whole  of  his  vast  domains.  The  Seljuk  ruler  was  not  merely 
a  conqueror.  Whether  under  the  influence  of  the  Caliphs 
or  not,  he  interested  himself  in  education,  founded  schools, 
and  it  was  during  his  region  that  many  of  the  most  beautiful 
specimens  of  what  is  mistakenly  called  Saracenic  architecture 
were  erected  throughout  Central  Asia  Minor.  The  graceful 
mosques  and  arches,  sometimes  highly  adorned,  mostly  now 
fallen  into  ruin,  are  all  that  is  left  of  a  strange  incursion  of 
the  wild  Tartars  into  civilization. 

Malek  Shah  left  little  or  nothing  of  his  own  ability  to  his 
three  sons,  who  disputed  among  themselves  and  divided  the 
empire:  one  holding  Persia  and  laying  the  foundation  for  the 
present  Kajar  dynasty;  another  occupying  Northern  Syria, 
while  the  third  retained  the  ancestral  capital  at  Konieh.  This 
division  not  merely  made  them  subject  to  incursions  from 
abroad,  but  to  revolutions  from  the  chieftains  who  nominally 
o-ave  them  allegiance.  The  first  to  take  advantage  of  their 
weakness  were  the  Mongols,  who,  under  Zinghis  Khan,  either 
overbore  the  weak  Seljuks  entirely  or  held  them  in  subordina¬ 
tion,  though  still  allowing  them  the  title  of  Sultan.  The 
Mongols,  however,  had  no  staying  power,  and  gave  place  in 


ERTHOGRUL. 


69 


their  turn  to  still  another  incursion.  A  tribe  of  Turks  swept 
away  by  the  Mongol  invasion  had  found  their  way  from 
Khorassan  to  the  region  west  of  Ararat,  where  they  camped 
about  the  headquarters  of  the  Euphrates.  They  found  this, 
however,  not  exactly  to  their  mind,  and  longing  for  their 
ancient  home,  set  out  to  return  to  it.  Their  chief,  however, 
was  drowned  in  attempting  to  cross  the  Euphrates,  and  the 
result  was  a  division  of  the  troops.  The  two  oldest  sons 
held  on  their  way  to  Khorassan  ;  the  younger  two,  with  about 
400  families,  wandered  back  and  forth  in  true  nomad  style 
from  plain  to  mountain.  One,  Erthogrul,  came  out  upon  a 
plain  of  Cappadocia  and  found,  according  to  the  story,  two 
armies  in  conflict.  True  to  the  mountain  instinct,  unfortu¬ 
nately  lost  in  later  years,  he  joined  the  weaker  company,  and 
with  his  fresh  warriors  won  for  them  the  victory.  Later  con¬ 
sultation  revealed  to  him  the  fact  that  his  late  ally  was  the 
Sultan  of  the  Seljuks,  seeking  to  defend  his  much-diminished 
kingdom  against  one  of  his  periodical  foes.  The  new 
arrivals,  fresh  from  their  mountain  life,  unweakened  by  the 
experiences  of  the  plain,  formed  a  valuable  reinforcement. 
They  joined  heartily  with  those  they  had  helped,  recognized 
loyally  their  chief,  and  assisted  him  to  regain  his  power  over 
the  various  tribes  around,  and  also  to  make  some  headway 
against  the  Greeks.  In  course  of  time  a  closer  alliance  was 
brought  about  and  the  son  of  Erthogrul,  Ottoman,  Osman, 
or  Othman,  by  persistent  courtship  and  a  convenient  dream, 
won  the  daughter  of  an  Arab  chief,  and  Malkatoun  be¬ 
came  the  mother  of  Orchan. 

Erthogrul  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  but  little  by  little  trans¬ 
ferred  the  care  of  his  kingdom  to  Othman,  who,  on  the 
death  of  his  benefactor,  became  the  recognized  head  of  the 


7° 


ORCHAN. 


nation.  This  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
His  reign,  and  that  of  Orchan,  were  occupied  chiefly  in  con¬ 
solidating  their  power,  developing  the  general  character  of 
the  people,  introducing  the  best  military  arrangements  known 
at  that  day,  and  in  extending  their  empire.  One  by  one  they 
drew  under  their  leadership  the  various  Turkish  tribes,  and 
advanced  nearer  and  nearer  to  Constantinople,  until  they  made 
Brusa  their  capital.  It  was  here  that  both  father  and  son  are 
buried,  and  their  tombs  are  objects  of  great  reverence  among 
the  Turks  to  the  present  day. 

It  is  probable  that  the  influence  of  these  two  men  largely 
controlled  the  development  of  Turkish  character.  That  char¬ 
acter  is  often  greatly  misunderstood.  It  is  by  no  means  as 
thoroughly  barbaric  as  many  suppose.  It  is  impossible  that  a 
nation  that  could  develop  such  power,  could  not  merely  extend 
its  boundaries,  but  maintain  them,  subdue  nation  after  nation, 
and  keep  them  in  subjection,  hold  its  own  for  centuries  against 
the  hostility  of  Europe,  and  withstand  the  disintegrating 
influences  that  have  been  at  work  during  the  past  century, 
should  not  have  much  of  vitality  in  its  nature.  Whatever  of 
weakness  at  the  head,  there  must  have  been,  and  there  must 
still  be,  soundness  of  body.  That  this  is  true  is  testified  to, 
not  merely  by  travelers,  of  whatever  nationality,  but  by  the 
very  people  who  are  quoted  as  saying,  “  There  is  no  good 
Turk  but  a  dead  Turk/’  The  fact  is,  that  in  order  to  estimate 
accurately  the  character  of  the  Turkish  native,  we  must  go 
not  to  the  official  circles,  but  to  the  private  houses,  whether 
in  the  cities  or  the  country,  but  most  of  all  in  the  country. 

The  ordinary  Turkish  peasant,  and  many  a  townsman,  is  a 
man  very  simple  in  his  tastes.  His  food  is  plain  but  whole¬ 
some,  his  dress  is  unassuming,  his  house  most  primitively  fur- 


_ 


. 


. . 


TURKISH  PEASANT.  They  are  ordinarily  quiet,  kindly  men,  fairly 
industrious,  but  not  aggressive.  It  is  only  when  stirred  by  fanatical  appeals  that 
they  come  to  be  dreaded.  They  almost  all  wear  charms,  and  the  cord  about  the 
neck  is  fastened  to  one  such.  The  turban  is  a  simple  roll  of  dark  cloth  about  a  felt 
cap. 


IKMXUDM 


, ni.'ymu'Wjiwn"  ■  I'.IVI’W*'."""*1"'" 


GROUP  OF  MOUNTAINEERS  FROM  CENTRAL  ASIA  MINOR. 
These  are  not  as  fierce,  although  fully  as  brave  as  the  Xeibecks.  They  form  a 
considerable  element  in  what  are  known  as  the  Bashi-Bozouks,  or  irregular  troops 
of  the  Turkish  army.  They  are  pure-blooded  Turks,  stalwart,  powerful  men. 


POLYGAMY. 


73 


nished.  He  is  kindly  in  his  bearing;  intensely  fond  of  his 
children,  frequently  so  of  his  wife ;  a  great  admirer  of  the 
beauties  of  nature,  generally  contriving  to  have  some  flowers 
within  reach.  He  is  social,  but  in  rather  a  sober  way,  in  this 
respect  quite  different  from  the  Armenians,  who  are  far  more 
buoyant,  and  from  the  Greeks,  whose  entertainments  are  fre¬ 
quently  boisterous.  He  is  thoroughly  hospitable,  entertaining 
with  a  free  hand.  To  the  unfortunate,  especially  the  blind,  the 
crippled,  the  demented,  he  is  very  kind,  not  only  never  lifting  a 
finger  against  them,  but  helping  them  when  he  can.  So  also 
with  animals,  he  is  careful  and  generally  considerate. 

In  his  private  life  the  Turkish  peasant  is  temperate.  Not 
as  temperate  as  he  is  supposed  to  be,  but  still  temperate.  As 
a  rule  he  is  a  monogamist.  Polygamy  is  comparatively  rare, 
chiefly  because  of  the  expense.  The  facility  and  widespread 
use  of  divorce,  however,  accomplishes  much  the  same  thing. 
Any  Turk  can  put  away  his  wife  at  any  time,  and  take  another, 
and  in  the  towns  this  privilege  is  used  constantly,  nor  is  there 
any  disgrace  involved.  There  are,  however,  multitudes  of 
instances  where  husband  and  wife  are  true  to  each  other 
through  a  long  life.  The  statement  is  frequently  made  that 
the  social  evil  is  unknown.  This  is  not  true.  In  the  cities, 
and  wherever  there  are  garrisons,  there  is  prostitution,  though 
not  to  the  same  extent  as  in  Europe.  Sodomy  is  far  more 
common.  In  the  main,  however,  the  common  Turk  of  the 
provinces  will  compare  very  favorably  with  the  peasant  of 
other  lands,  and  one  proof  is  found  in  the  unimpaired  vigor 
of  his  physical  constitution.  He  is  ordinarily  a  robust,  well- 
formed,  powerful  man. 

In  his  relations  with  the  subject  races  of  the  empire,  the  Turk 
never  forgets  that  he  is  the  lord  of  the  land.  This  is  intensi- 

o 

5 


74 


THE  FOREIGNER. 


fied  by  the  fact  that  he  occupies  himself  chiefly  with  the  care 
of  the  land,  herds  and  flocks,  which  he  considers  the  only  real 
property.  Trade  he  has  little  taste  for,  and  as  little  facility  in 
it.  Banking,  too,  is  entirely  alien  to  his  habits.  These  pur¬ 
suits  he  looks  upon  as  implying  endless  trickery  and  decep¬ 
tion,  and  accordingly  he  looks  upon  them  with  contempt,  for, 
except  under  the  influence  of  the  West,  he  is  in  general  truth¬ 
ful,  honest  and  reliable.  This  contempt  is  usually  mingled 
with  somewhat  of  dread,  for  he  is  no  match  for  the  very  peo¬ 
ple  he  despises,  whom  yet  he  finds  so  essential  to  his  comfort 
and  o-eneral  welfare.  The  result  is,  that  for  the  most  part  he 
lives  on  good  terms  with  his  neighbors  of  whatever  race  or 
creed.  In  ordinary  times  he  will  be  seen  on  friendly,  even 
intimate,  relations  with  them,  and,  although  the  distinction  is 
always  clear,  it  is  yet  frequently  overlooked.  Villages, 
Christian  and  Turkish,  on  the  same  plain,  will  ordinarily  be  at 
peace,  and  in  the  towns  and  cities  there  is  seldom  any  indica¬ 
tion  of  the  line  that  separates  one  quarter  from  another. 
Even  in  the  massacres  of  the  past  year,  there  have  been  many 
instances  where  they  have  given  protection  to  hunted  Christian 
refugees. 

So  far  as  the  foreigner  is  concerned,  he  is  to  the  average 
Turk  more  of  a  curiosity  than  anything  else,  a  kind  of  being 
with  whom,  or  with  which,  he  has  very  little  to  do.  He  has  a 
dim  conception  of  the  existence  of  some  strange  countries  far 
remote  from  his  own,  where  people  dress  in  a  most  uncom¬ 
fortable  way,  eat  strange  things,  and  altogether  lead  a  life 
which  has  not  the  slightest  attraction  for  himself.  There  are 
men,  even  in  interior  villages,  who  have  a  much  more  accurate 
idea  of  Europe,  and  who  have  even  heard  of  America,  but 


THE  PREVAILING  IDEAS.  75 

the  following  incident,  which  is  a  true  one,  will  apply  to  the 
greater  part  of  the  Turks  of  the  provinces. 

A  foreigner  who  was  traveling  in  Northern  Syria  came  to 
a  village  on  the  Euphrates,  and  entered  into  conversation 
with  his  host,  a  part  of  which  was  as  follows : 

Host.  What  is  the  latest  news  ? 

Foreigner.  Have  you  heard  that  the  Russian  Emperor  is 
dead  ? 

Host.  No!  When  did  he  die? 

Foreigner.  Two  or  three  weeks  ago. 

Host.  Is  there  a  new  king  yet  ?  (Notice  change  in  title.) 

Foreigner.  Why,  yes,  even  though  not  formally  crowned, 
the  new  Emperor  became  Emperor  the  moment  his  father  died. 

Host.  Who  is  the  new  kino-? 

o 

Foreigner.  The  son  of  the  one  dead.  In  Europe  the 
crown  goes  from  father  to  child,  not  to  the  oldest  male  of  the 
blood  royal  as  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 

Host.  Has  the  new  king  come  to  Constantinople  yet? 

Foreigner.  Whatfor? 

Host.  Why,  to  get  our  Emperor’s  permission  to  put  on 
his  crown ;  he  cannot  put  it  on  without  our  Emperor’s  per¬ 
mission. 

Foreigner.  I  think  that  has  not  been  the  custom  of  late 
years. 

Host.  Why,  certainly  it  has.  None  of  the  kings  of 
Europe  can  be  crowned  without  our  Emperor’s  permission. 
Is  not  that  so  ?  (this  to  a  Moslem  who  had  just  come  in). 

Visitor.  Why,  yes.  They  are  all  vassals  of  our  Emperor. 

Host.  I  wonder  if  our  Emperor  will  not  insist  that  the 
new  Russian  king  pledge  himself  to  abstain  from  war  two 
years,  before  letting  him  put  on  his  crown  ? 


76 


INTELLECUTAL  ABILITY. 


Visitor.  Probably  he  will. 

The  intellectual  ability  of  the  Turk  is  good.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  there  is  almost  no  education  of  any  kind 
throughout  the  country  ;  that  what  little  there  is,  is  confined  to 
the  priests ;  that  there  is  little  reading  and  almost  no  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  development,  the  facts  apparent  on  every  hand  , 
indicate  no  mean  order  of  talent.  The  records  of  attainment 
in  o-overnment  schools  and  elsewhere  show  that  Turkish 
young  men  are  fully  the  equals  of  any.  In  many  respects 
the  conduct  of  the  government  is  of  a  very  good  order,  and 
the  history  of  Turkish  diplomacy  is  certainly  on  a  par  with 
that  of  any  court  of  Europe.  They  have  not  the  keenness 
of  the  Armenians  or  of  the  Greeks,  but  have  good  minds, 
and,  where  circumstances  give  the  opportunity,  they  show 
ability  to  think  for  themselves.  In  the  official  class  this  is 
particularly  noticeable,  and  the  educated  Turk  of  Constanti¬ 
nople  stands  fully  abreast  of  his  compeer  in  the  cities  of 
Europe.  An  American,  traveling  in  a  railroad  train  from 
Adrianople  to  Constantinople,  got  into  conversation  with  a 
Turkish  army  officer.  He  found  the  officer  well  posted  in 
many  lines  of  investigation  and  even  well  read  in  the  Turkish 
version  of  the  Bible.  It  is  an  interesting  and  significant  fact 
that  large  editions  of  that  version,  in  the  form  specially 
adapted  to  Turks,  have  been  sold  throughout  the  empire, 
and  that  they  are  constantly  read  and  studied,  has  been 
repeatedly  affirmed  by  the  Turks  themselves.  A  nation  that 
can  produce  such  men  as  Fuad,  Midhat,  and  Ali  Pashas,  and 
not  a  few  of  those  prominent  in  later  years,  and  that  shows 
such  interest  in  a  daily  press,  cannot  be  considered  of  mediocre 
intellectual  ability. 

From  the  standpoint  of  a  despotic  government  the  Turk 


UNWAVERING  OBEDIENCE. 


77 


makes  an  almost  ideal  subject.  He  is  absolutely  obedient  to 
those  whom  he  regards  as  constituted  authorities,  even  where 
treated  by  them  with  the  most  outrageous  oppression  and 
injustice,  as  is  repeatedly  the  case  under  the  Sultan’s  rule. 
He  seldom  if  ever  complains,  and  when  he  does  it  is  with 
bated  breath,  as  if  there  could  be  no  criticism  of  his 
superiors.  Whatever  of  wrong  there  may  be,  is  laid  at  the 
door,  not  of  the  authorities,  but  of  some  outside  and  to  him 
unknown  influences  which  compel  this  action  under  which  he 
suffers.  Or  it  may  be  that  he  looks  upon  it  as  just  punish¬ 
ment  from  God  for  some  crime  against  his  law.  But  of  this 
later  on.  As  a  soldier  he  takes  rank  with  the  very  best  in 
the  world.  His  naturally  fine  physique  and  strong  constitu¬ 
tion  and  simple  manner  of  life  give  him  great  endurance,  and 
his  unwavering  obedience,  which,  however,  is  by  no  means 
stolid,  as  is  that  of  the  Russian,  makes  him  the  reliance  of 
his  officers,  while  his  education  in  his  religion  from  childhood 
makes  him  reckless  even  to  the  point  of  despising  death. 
The  record  of  Turkish  wars  throughout  the  centuries  has 
been  one  that  any  nation  might  well  be  proud  of,  so  far  as 
achievements  of  its  soldiers  are  concerned  ;  and  no  one  who 
watched  the  veterans  as  they  returned  from  Plevna  and  from 
Shipka  could  fail  to  understand  how  it  was  that  Russia  had 
to  buy  her  way  into  the  fortifications. 

There  is,  however,  another  side  to  Turkish  character, 
illustrated  by  many  facts  along  the  lines  already  mentioned. 
The  treatment  of  the  insane  whose  detention  becomes  neces¬ 
sary,  and  who  have  none  to  provide  for  them,  is  brutal  in  the 
extreme.  In  times  of  famine  or  of  general  distress  the  Turk 
will  do  little  or  nothing  to  relieve  even  his  own  people,  and 
when  an  animal  becomes  sick  or  helpless,  it  is  left  to  a 


7$ 


FRIGHTFUL  CRUELTY. 


miserable  end.  It  is  no  uncommon  sight  on  the  caravan 
roads  to  see  camels,  horses  or  mules,  that  have  fallen  by  the 
way  left  to  die,  while  the  vultures  gather  and  commence  their 
work  even  before  life  is  extinct.  The  stories  of  the  past 
year  of  torture,  murder  and  outrage,  seem  to  belong  to  a  race 
of  demons  rather  than  of  human  beings.  It  is  true  that  for 
much  of  this  the  Kurds  are  responsible,  as  in  the  Bulgarian 
massacres  it  was  largely  the  Pomaks  who  were  guilty  of  the 
worst  excesses,  but  still  it  is  true  that  the  Turks  themselves, 
soldiers  and  peasants,  committed  deeds  of  the  most  frightful 

o 

enormity.  Y he  ripping  up  of  pregnant  women  to  decide  a 
wager  as  to  the  sex  of  the  unborn  child,  the  wholesale  out- 
raging  of  women  and  girls,  not  to  speak  of  the  torturing  of 
men,  and  even  little  children,  in  the  most  inhuman  fashion, 
indicate  a  fiendish  barbarism  that  seems  absolutely  incom¬ 
patible  with  the  kindness  and  hospitality  to  which  so  many 
bear  witness.  Yet  it  is  simple  truth  that,  were  the  facts  to  be 
detailed  in  all  their  horror,  the  chronicle  would  disgust  the 
world.  A  portion  of  it  has  been  set  forth  in  such  articles  as 
those  by  E.  J.  Dillon,  in  the  Contemporary  Review ;  by  Frede¬ 
rick  D.  Greene,  in  “The  Armenian  Crisis  in  Turkey,”  and  a 
few,  comparatively  very  few,  instances  will  be  found  in  later 
chapters  of  this  book.  They  need  not  be  repeated  here.  It 
is  sufficient  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  case  given  for  which 
there  is  not  abundant  proof. 

So  also  in  private  life  there  are  aspects  of  even  the  best 
of  the  Turkish  people  that  can  call  forth  only  condemnation. 
Most  noticeable,  perhaps,  is  the  condition  of  women,  which  is 
in  the  main  thoroughly  degraded.  From  her  birth  she  is 
looked  upon  as  a  menial  and  an  unfortunate.  This  is  illus¬ 
trated  by  the  great  amount  ol  infanticide,  especially  if  the 


BRUTAL  SENSUALISM.  79 

child  be  a  girl;  by  the  haggard,  ugly  countenances  of  the  old 
women,  so  different  in  that  respect  from  the  Armenians; 
the  piercing  shrillness  of  their  voices,  from  which  every  tone 
of  tenderness  seems  to  have  gone  ;  the  very  general  vulgarity 
of  conversation  and  of  thought,  always  attendant  upon  a 
condition  of  society  where  the  woman  must  rely  upon  satisfy¬ 
ing  the  passions  rather  than  the  heart  of  her  husband.  As 
already  stated,  there  are  exceptions,  but  in  the  main  the  con¬ 
dition  of  the  Turkish  women  is  very  low.  This  condition 
reacts  upon  the  men  and  makes  them  vulgar  and  sensual  in 
the  extreme.  The  everyday  language  of  the  average  Turk 
would  shock  the  lowest  of  the  slum  boys  in  our  own  cities. 
Under  ordinary  circumstances  sensualism  is  kept  measurably 
in  check  by  the  inevitable  restraints  of  community  life,  but 
once  let  those  be  broken  and  lust  reigns  supreme,  dominating 
everything.  As  a  gentleman  who  knows  them  well  and 
never  hesitates  to  recognize  their  good  qualities,  has  said, 
“In  a  Turk’s  eye  all  that  a  woman  has  is  sex,  and  for  it  he 
lusts  with  absolute  brutality.” 

Similar  characteristics  appear  in  his  relations  with  others. 
While  ordinarily  peaceable  and  desirous  of  living  on  good 
terms  with  his  neighbors  of  other  creeds  or  races,  and  thus 
generally  truthful,  honest  and  hospitable,  he  will  on  occasion 
show  the  reverse  of  all  these  characteristics,  and  it  is  not 
infrequently  the  case  that  travelers  find  it  impossible  to 
understand  how  any  one  can  possibly  speak  of  the  race  with 
other  than  contempt  for  its  utter  disregard  of  the  most 
ordinary  amenities  of  life.  The  explanation  is  undoubtedly 
partly  to  be  found  in  their  religious  training,  but  there  is 
ingrained  in  the  Turkish  character  an  element  of  dishonesty 
and  of  disregard  for  truth.  This  uncertainty  appears  some- 


8o 


THE  TURKISH  COURT. 


what  in  their  relations  to  their  own  government.  Loyal  as 
they  are,  it  has  not  infrequently  been  true  that  they,  far  more 
than  the  Christian  subjects,  furnish  the  most  anxiety,  and  if 
now  the  inmost  thoughts  of  the  Sultan  could  be  learned,  it  is 
most  probable  that  he  fears  the  Softas  far  more  than  the 
Armenians. 

Next,  perhaps,  to  the  condition  of  woman,  the  weaker  or 
the  worst  side  of  Turkish  character  is  manifest  in  the  official 
class.  The  Turks  themselves  have  a  proverb  that  “The 
Turk  is  a  decent  man  until  he  becomes  an  official,  and  then 
he  becomes  a  scamp,”  and  this  is  borne  out  in  the  greater  part 
of  the  intercourse  between  that  class  and  the  rest  of  the 
world.  Probably  no  court  in  history  can  give  so  marked  an 
illustration  of  the  decadence  of  all  moral  power  as  the 
Turkish  court.  There  have  been  noble  men,  men  of  pre¬ 
eminent  ability  and  sterling  character,  but  they  have  been 
very  rare,  and  the  average  official,  whether  in  civil,  military 
or  naval  service,  is  absolutely  unreliable.  He  will  make 
promises  that  he  never  intends  to  keep  and  that  he 
knows  he  cannot  keep.  He  will  accept,  bribes  unblushingly 
and  will  deal  with  all  whom  he  comes  in  contact  on  the 
general  principle  that  he  is  the  smartest  man  who  can  get  the 
most  and  give  the  least;  a  sycophant  to  his  superiors,  a  bully 
to  his  inferiors.  His  whole  life  is  a  constant  strife  with  every 
one  with  whom  he  has  any  relations  whatever.  The  very 
atmosphere  in  which  he  lives  seems  to  breathe  dishonesty 
and  fasehood,  and  the  ability  he  shows  is  prostituted  to  the 
very  basest  ends.  Yet  here  again,  as  in  almost  every  other 
statement,  exceptions  must  be  made.  No  one  who  has  had 
dealings  with  the  departments  of  the  government  has  failed 
to  find  many  instances  of  courtesy  and  consideration.  With 


i  i  i 


TURKISH  CHARACTER. 


8 1 


all  the  outrage  and  injustice  perpetrated  by  the  provincial 
governors,  there  have  been  many  instances  of  not  merely 
justice,  but  kindness,  in  their  dealing  with  all  classes  of 
people.  When,  however,  every  possible  exception  is  noted, 
it  remains  true  that  the  official  life  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  is  thoroughly  demoralized. 

The  one  dominant  element  in  the  Turkish  character,  how¬ 
ever,  the  one  which  controls  and  modifies  all  the  others,  is 
his  religion.  This  is  no  place  for  a  general  description  of 
Mohammedanism.  Some  reference  has  already  been  made 
to  it  in  a  preceding  chapter.  Here  we  have  only  to  note  its 
effect  upon  the  Turkish  character.  That  effect  is  both  ad¬ 
vantageous  and  disadvantageous.  The  grandeur  of  its 
monotheism  fills  his  soul  and  holds  him  in  absolute  subjec¬ 
tion  to  that  idea.  One  result  of  this  is  that  the  natural 
simplicity  of  the  race  is  strengthened  rather  than  weakened. 
Another  effect  of  it  is  seen  in  his  general  self-control  and 
temperance.  The  Turk  is  by  no  means  as  temperate  a  man 
as  many  suppose  him  to  be  ;  yet  what  temperance  he  has  is 
due  primarily  to  the  precepts  of  his  religion.  So  also  he  is 
as  a  rule  self-contained,  not  from  stolidity,  but  from  principle. 
He  is  above  all  things  else  a  pure  and  simple  fatalist, 
acknowledging  God’s  absolute  control  over  him  and  claiming 
that  whatever  is,  is  right.  It  is  immaterial  to  him  what 
happens  to  him.  Thus,  on  the  field  of  battle  he  absolutely 
refuses  to  recognize  danger,  and  in  private  life,  when  sick¬ 
ness  overtakes  him,  he  will  frequently  make  no  effort  for  re¬ 
covery.  The  following  incident  illustrates,  better  than  any 
lengthy  description  can,  the  power  of  this  influence. 

In  the  various  scourges  of  cholera  that  have  swept  over 
many  parts  of  the  empire,  the  Turk  has  been  the  most 


82 


INFLUENCES  FOR  EVIL. 


difficult  patient  to  treat.  In  the  dread  time  in  Constantinople 
in  1865,  when  the  deaths  numbered  not  less  than  a  thousand 
a  day,  a  gentleman  on  his  errand  of  mercy  and  of  healing 
met  in  the  street  a  young  man,  who  implored  him  to  come 
into  a  room  near  by  and  save,  if  he  could,  his  father.  The 
room  was  entered,  and  there,  upon  a  single  quilt  upon  the 
floor,  lay  a  Turk,  old  in  years,  but  not  in  strength,  of  magnifi¬ 
cent  physique  and  apparently  of  perfect  health  until  attacked 
by  the  plague.  The  disease  had  secured  so  thorough  a  hold 
of  him  that  he  seemed  to  be  marked  for  death.  As  the 
medicine  was  produced  he  absolutely  refused  to  take  it, 
saying,  “If  it  is  God’s  will  that  I  should  die,  I  shall  die,  and 
your  medicine  will  do  no  good.  If  it  is  His  will  that  I  shall 
recover,  I  shall  recover,  and  your  medicine  will  be  of  no  use.” 
Scarcely  needless  to  say  the  man  died.  This  same  principle 
also  makes  him  the  obedient  subject  that  he  is,  and  keeps 
him  content  with  his  lot  when  many  another  race  would  be 
restless  and  urgent  for  revolution. 

There  are,  however,  other  influences  for  evil.  The  very 
absoluteness  of  Islam  makes  him  overbearing  and  insolent  to 
all  who  are  not  of  his  own  faith.  Its  exaltation  of  the  sensual 
paradise  frees  him  from  all  restraint  in  the  gratification  of  his 
passions.  If  once  his  recognized  ecclesiastical  leaders,  the 
authorized  interpreters  of  the  law,  declare  against  the  authority 
of  the  government,  he  becomes  immediately  the  most  danger¬ 
ous  revolutionist  known  to  history ;  this  in  aggression.  But 
in  another  sense  the  same  religion  develops  within  him  an 
indolence.  The  one  word  that  probably  to  many  a  traveler 
expresses  Turkish  character,  is  the  word  “kef.”  It  is  an  un¬ 
translatable  word,  and  denotes  a  general  condition  of  indolent 
and  sensuous  rather  than  sensual  enjoyment  of  different 


83 


TURKISH  “KEF.” 

pleasures.  In  the  enjoyment  of  it  he  is  careless  of  the  future 
and  the  past,  and  lives  only  in  the  present.  If  urged  to  labor 
in  the  fields,  he  says,  “What  is  the  use?  I  have  enough  for 
the  moment.  Why  should  I  look  out  for  the  future ?”  If 
appeal  is  made  to  his  ambition  in  the  line  of  intellectual  de¬ 
velopment  or  wide  extent  of  prosperity,  the  same  indolent 
luxuriousness  prevents  his  taking  the  slightest  trouble  to  alter 
his  situation.  That  this  indolence  should  co-exist  with  the 
tremendous  fury  of  the  Turkish  onslaughts  as  known  in  his¬ 
tory,  with  the  atrocious  barbarity  of  the  events  of  the  past 
year,  seems  almost  incredible,  and  yet  it  is  true.  This  same 
characteristic  appears  in  still  another  form.  It  stands  in  op¬ 
position  to  any  development  of  the  land.  It  is  epicurean¬ 
ism  interpreted  in  Tartar  language,  and  we  have  the  Sybarite, 
with  the  bare  mud  floor,  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  pipe,  instead 
of  the  luxurious  couch  and  deep  potations  of  the  Roman 
court.  This  latter  indeed  is  found  where  wealth  gives  oppor¬ 
tunity,  but  for  the  distinctive  Iurkish  “kef,”  we  must  look 
not  in  the  palace  or  on  the  shores  of  the  Bosporus,  but  in 
the  village  and  on  the  plains  of  Asia  Minor.  An  illustration 
is  furnished  in  the  refusal  of  a  Turkish  pasha  who  owned 
some  land  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Taurus.  When 
some  Europeans  came  to  get  a  concession  for  working  some 
coal  mines  on  his  property,  he  replied,  “  If  God  Almighty  had 
intended  that  coal  to  be  used,  He  would  put  it  near  the  surface 
where  it  could  have  been  got  at,  noj:  away  below,  where  you 
have  to  dig  for  it.  It  is  blasphemy  to  change  His  plans.” 
What  disturbed  the  pasha,  however,  in  truth,  was  not  the 
blasphemy,  but  the  interference  with  his  “kef.” 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Turk,  as  is  the  case  with  so  many 
other  peoples,  is  a  bundle  of  contradictions.  With  some 


84 


ABDUL  HAMID  II. 


noble  qualities  he  unites  some  that  are  brutal  and  contempti¬ 
ble  in  the  extreme.  Those  who  see  only  the  courteous  host 
and  the  easy,  suave  diplomat,  will  defend  him  with  all  their 
power,  while  those  who  have  felt  the  iron  heel  of  his  despot¬ 
ism,  and  seen  the  wanton  outrage  of  his  lust,  find  it  hard  to 
think  that  there  can  be  any  good  in  him.  Probably  the  most 
typical  Turk  of  the  century  is  the  Sultan  himself.  To  the 
foreign  ambassador,  to  the  guest  whom  he  delights  to  honor, 
he  appears  a  man  of  kindly,  even  benign  bearing,  sincerely 
desirous  of  the  welfare  of  all  his  people,  sad  at  their  distress, 
bitterly  lamenting  the  cruel  fate  that  has  so  weakened  the 
power  of  his  rule  that  he  cannot  do  what  he  would,  yet 
anxious  to  do  all  he  can.  To  the  official,  however,  who  has 
displeased  him,  to  the  peasant  in  his  village  who  pays  him 
taxes,  to  the  priest  who  seeks  to  perform  the  rites  of  his 
church,  he  appears  a  tyrant  of  the  most  unjust  and  cruel  type. 
Which  is  correct?  In  all  probability  both.  When  all  goes 
well,  Abdul  Hamid,  like  any  other  Turk,  is  kindly,  hospitable, 
even  generous.  When,  however,  adversity  comes  upon  him, 
and  he  finds  himself  face  to  face  with  disaster,  not  merely  to 
himself,  but  to  his  boasted  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  the  old 
Tartar  blood  enkindled  by  the  ferocity  of  the  Moslem  Arab 
breaks  forth,  and  he  permits,  if  he  does  not  directly  order,  the 
the  most  atrocious  series  of  massacres  known  in  history. 
With  capabilities  for  the  best,  the  Turk  frequently  manifests 
the  worst  elements  in  human  nature. 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  Kurds. 

Legend  of  the  Serpents — Connected  with  the  Medes — Tribal  Organization — Nomad  Life  — 
Saladin  and  the  Crusaders — After  the  Russo-Turkish  War — The  Hamidieh  Cavalry — 
Brutal  Treatment  of  Christians — Arabs — Circassians  and  other  Moslem  Subjects — The 
Nusairiyeh — Yezidis  and  Druzes. 

THE  passion  for  legend  is  illustrated  in  no  better  way 
than  in  the  statements  as  to  the  origin  of  the  oriental 
races.  Even  the  wildest  tribes  share  in  this,  and  there  have 
come  down,  through  their  famous  story-tellers,  narrative  after 
narrative,  to  be  taken  not  as  authentic  history,  and  yet  as 
giving  after  all  the  kernel  of  authentic  history.  The  Kurdish 
people  are  no  exception  to  this  rule.  According  to  the  story 
that  is  told  in  their  camps  and  castles,  extending  all  the  way 
from  the  eastern  end  of  the  Black  Sea  to  the  very  borders  of 
the  Persian  Gulf,  and  from  the  mountains  of  Western  Persia 
along  the  mountain  ranges  of  Asiatic  Turkey,  they  owed  their 
origin  to  one  of  those  acts  of  cruelty  familiar  to  all  Eastern 
history. 

In  the  capital  of  Persia,  in  the  ages  long  past,  there  was  a 
king  famous  even  there  for  his  cruelty.  Through  many  years 
his  crimes  went  unavenged.  At  last  the  gods  found  them 
too  severe,  and  in  punishment  sent  two  serpents  to  take  up 
their  abode,  one  in  each  shoulder.  These  serpents  preyed 
upon  his  flesh,  which  yet  was  constantly  renewed  by  a  miracle 
of  divine  retribution,  so  that  each  morning  found  the  body 
still  unimpaired.  The  torture  of  the  day  brought  to  the 

(85) 


86 


DRAWING  LOTS. 


king’s  mind  a  suggestion  of  relief.  Reasoning  that  his  own 
flesh  was  no  sweeter  than  that  of  his  nobility,  and  that  the 
younger  the  flesh  the  more  dainty  the  morsel  it  furnished,  he 
sent  out  among  the  wealthy  families  of  his  kingdom,  and 
gathered  in  all  the  young  men.  Every  morning  lots  were 
cast,  and  two  of  these  were  taken  and  fed  to  the  serpents, 
that  so  they  might  be  diverted  from  the  body  of  the  king. 
Naturally  terror  reigned  throughout  the  kingdom.  Fear  and 
anger  assisted  the  subjects  to  discover  away  of  cheating,  both 
the  king  and  the  serpents,  just  as  the  king  had  hoped  to  cheat 
his  tormentors.  They  reasoned  that  when  the  first  taste  of  the 
serpents  was  sated,  an  ordinary  sheep  would  satisfy  their 
hunger.  Accordingly  each  morning,  lots  were  drawn  between 
the  two  victims,  one  escaped  and  fled  to  the  mountains,  while 
his  comrade  suffered.  This  was  carried  on,  for  how  lono-  the 

7  o 

legend  does  not  say,  long  enough,  however,  to  result  in  the 
gathering  of  a  large  number  of  these  escaped  members  of 
the  nobility  in  the  mountains  of  Demavend,  banded  together  to 
avenge  the  wrong  upon  them  and  upon  their  kindred  against 
the  king  and  all  his  forces. 

This,  according  to  the  legend,  was  the  origin  of  the  Kurdish 
people.  More  authentic  tradition  states  that  a  race  variously 
called  Gutu  (warrior),  Gardu,  and  Karu  (whence  Kardukas, 
Charduchi),  occupied  the  mountainous  eastern  border  of  the 
Assyrian  empire  in  the  time  of  its  glory.  These  were  of 
Scythian  origin,  but  were  conquered  by  a  tribe  of  Kermanj  de¬ 
scended  from  Madai  (Mede),  the  son  of  Japhet.  In  any  case 
their  mountain  fastnesses  furnished  a  sort  of  cave  of  Adullam, 
to  which  every  man  who  had  a  grievance  came,  and  a  rude  sort 
of  feudal  government  arose.  In  some  cases  the  men  were 
followed  by  the  women  of  their  families;  in  others  they 


VARIETY  OF  KURDS.  87 

gathered  wives  from  the  plain  in  their  raids.  Thus  there 
grew  up  a  race  in  the  mountains  whose  hand  was  against 
every  man  and  every  man’s  hand  against  them.  Occupying 
a  position  on  the  border  of  several  kingdoms,  it  was  natural 
that  they  should  become  a  thoroughly  heterogeneous  com¬ 
munity,  owing  their  origin  to  no  one  race  and  taking  their 
characteristics  from  many.  Still,  whether  due  to  the  method 
of  their  life  or  to  the  dominant  influence  of  some  racial 
element,  there  resulted  a  very  marked  race,  unity  governing 
the  diversity.  Thus,  while  the  Kurds  of  the  North  are  in 
many  respects  essentially  different  from  those  of  the  far 
South,  both  in  general  appearance  and  even  in  language, 
there  are  certain  characteristics  of  both  that  mark  them  all  as 
being  of  one  race. 

Probably  no  absolute  distinction  can  be  drawn  between  the 
different  sections.  In  general,  however,  it  is  legitimate  to  ac¬ 
cept  the  classification  of  some  of  those  who  have  made  care¬ 
ful  study  of  them.  About  the  only  published  authorities  are 
the  Kurdish  history,  “  Shereef  Na’ameh,”  published  in  St. 
Petersburg,  a  report  to  the  British  Government  prepared  by 
Major  Henry  Trotter,  British  Consul  for  Kurdistan,  and  mon- 
ographs  by  the  American  missionaries.  Considerable  infor¬ 
mation  has  been  given  by  individual  Kurds,  for  they  have 
furnished  not  a  few  scholars,  and  upon  the  basis  of  this  infor¬ 
mation  they  may  be  divided  according  to  race,  religion,  gov¬ 
ernment  and  mode  of  life,  the  lines  of  separation  not  being 

always  clear,  but  sufficient  to  furnish  the  basis  for  classifica¬ 
tion. 

Taking  up  first  the  question  of  race,  there  appear  to  be  two 
general  divisions,  each  with  two  subdivisions.  First  comes 
the  great  Jaff  race,  divided  into  Kermanj  and  Goran 


or 


88 


DIFFERENT  RACES. 


Kuran  ;  second,  the  Wend  tribes,  divided  between  the  Wends 
and  the  Lurs.  The  Jaff  race  includes  those  tribes  occupying 
the  country  from  the  eastern  end  of  the  Black  Sea  as  far 
south  as  Kerkuk  in  Turkey  and  Hamadan  in  Persia  and 
throughout  the  mountains  of  Asia  Minor.  The  Kermanj  are 
by  far  the  most  numerous  and  include  the  entire  population 
as  far  as  the  vicinity  of  Mosul  and  throughout  Asia  Minor, 
with  the  exception  of  a  comparatively  small  number  of  tribes. 
The  remainder  are  Goran.  Of  the  Wends,  the  distinctive 
Wend  tribe  has  its  origin  in  Afghanistan  and  extends  through 
Persia  into  Southern  Mesopotamia.  The  Lurs  occupy  a  sec¬ 
tion  of  Luristan  southwest  of  Hamadan.  If  the  total  Kurdish 
population  be  estimated  at  three  and  a  half  millions,  fully  two 
millions  belong  to  what  may  be  called  the  Northern  Kermanj 
tribes ;  about  400,000  to  the  Southern  tribes,  and  about  the 
same  number  (400,000)  to  the  Goran  tribes ;  while  the  Wends 
number  in  all  about  700,000. 

In  religion  all  are  Moslems,  the  great  majority  being 
Sunnis  or  orthodox;  a  comparatively  small  portion  aside  from 
the  Wend  tribes  being  Shiahs.  They  are  in  the  main  very 
scrupulous  in  their  observations  of  religious  rites,  thoroughly 
enthusiastic  and  intensely  loyal  Moslems,  looking  upon  all 
Christians  with  the  most  utter  contempt.  They  are  very 
largely  under  the  influence  of  Dervishes,  many  of  their  leaders 
belono-ine  to  the  different  Dervish  sects  which  abound  far 
more  in  Eastern  Turkey  and  Persia  than  in  Western  Turkey. 

The  general  form  of  government  is  tribal,  corresponding 
very  closely  to  that  of  the  clans  of  Scotland  and  such  as  is 
natural  to  all  mountainous  sections  of  country.  As  a  rule, 
the  chieftainship  is  hereditary,  and  in  some  families  it  has 
remained  for  a  long  time ;  in  others  the  democratic  element 


^ryr-1 


KURDISH  SHEIKH,  from  the  region  north  of  Harput.  Many  of  the  Kurds 
of  that  section  were  originally  of  Armenian  origin.  A  great  many  of  them  are  men 
of  considerable  force  of  character  and  ability,  generally  kindly  in  their  disposition, 
and  living  for  the  most  part  on  good  terms  with  their  Christian  fellow-subjects. 


GROUP  OF  XEIBECKS  ;  a  tribe  of  mountaineers  inhabiting  the  mountain 
section  inland  from  Smyrna.  They  are  bold,  reckless,  rather  brutal  men,  famous 
tor  their  marauding  expeditions,  in  which  they  plunder  indiscriminately  Moslem  as 
well  as  Christian  villages.  In  the  Russo-Turkish  war,  numbers  of  them  were  taken 
nto  Bulgaria,  where  they  committed  the  most  atrocious  outrages. 


. . 


MANNER  OF  LIFE. 


91 


seems  to  rule,  and  there  are  frequent  changes.  In  the  chief¬ 
tainship  among  the  Wend  tribes  that  position  is  held  according 
to  custom  by  the  man  whose  prowess  marks  him  as  the  leader. 
There  are,  however,  considerable  sections  in  which  the  tribal 
organization  is  practically  disappearing.  These  mostly  in¬ 
clude  the  Lurs  of  Persia  and  some  of  those  found  in  Meso¬ 
potamia  and  through  Asia  Minor.  This  loss  of  the  tribal 
character  is  due  chiefly  to  the  contact  into  which  they  have 
come  with  the  dominating  power  of  the  Persian  and  Turkish 
Governments. 

Perhaps  the  most  apparent  division  of  the  Kurdish  people 
is  according  to  their  manner  of  life,  nomad  or  sedentary.  The 
distinction  between  these  is  not  always  easily  drawn.  In 
many  cases  the  tribes  are  at  one  season  of  the  year  nomad 
and  at  another  sedentary  ;  thus  some  of  the  wildest  clans  of 
the  mountains  who  spend  their  summers  upon  the  plains 
wandering  back  and  forth  with  their  tents,  are  in  the  winter 
confined  within  their  villages  and  have  all  the  general  aspects 
of  a  settled  population.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  general 
tendency  has  been  from  the  nomad  to  the  sedentary  life,  and 
many  tribes  whose  ancestors  a  half  century  ago  knew  prac¬ 
tically  no  abiding  place,  are  now  found  year  after  year  within 
the  same  geographical  territory.  But  one  of  these  divisions 
can  fairly  be  said  to  have  retained  absolutely  its  nomad 
character,  and  that  is  the  Wend  tribe.  They  live  on  horse¬ 
back,  with  comparatively  few  flocks  or  herds,  and  prey  upon 
whatever  country  they  happen  to  enter. 

The  great  mass  of  the  Kermanj  are  partially  nomad,  while 
the  Lurs  are  almost  entirely  sedentary.  The  development  of 
city  life  has  had  its  effect,  and  there  are  a  number  of  cities 
along  the  Persian  border,  including  Kerkuk,  Suleimanieh, 


92 


TRIBAL  ORGANIZATION. 


Rowandiz  and  Bitlis,  where  the  entire  Moslem  population  is 
Kurdish.  In  some  cases  these  have  retained  a  certain  tribal 
form  of  organization  though  not  of  government,  but  in  not  a 
few  instances  that  has  disappeared,  and  to  the  traveler  the 
Kurd  appears  to  be  an  ordinary  Turkish  citizen. 

The  general  characteristics  of  the  Kurds  vary  somewhat 
according  to  these  general  divisions.  The  nomads,  whether 
Kermanj  or  Wend,  are  lawless  and  often  brutal  to  the  last 
degree.  The  sedentary  Kurds  are  in  the  main  sturdy,  but 
quiet  and  unaggressive.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  a  marked 
distinction  between  the  sedentary  Lur  on  the  plains  of  Persia 
and  his  kinsman  in  the  city  of  Bitlis.  In  general  the  Kermanj 
are  the  most  aggressive  ;  the  Gorans  show  the  most  character; 
the  Wends  are  the  wildest,  and  the  Lurs  the  most  peaceful. 
Comparatively  few  have  come  into  contact  with  any  form  of 
civilization,  although  some  of  the  Goran  chiefs,  and  even  men 
of  no  particular  position,  have  manifested  ability  of  high  order. 
One  of  the  most  successful  ministers  that  the  present  Sultan 
has  ever  had,  who  has  not  only  been  ambassador  to  Germany, 
but  has  held  the  position  of  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and 
even  that  of  Grand  Vizier  at  Constantinople,  is  a  Kurd  from 
Suleimanieh.  The  editor  of  one  of  the  most  successful  papers 
at  the  capital,  before  the  present  intense  censorship  was 
established,  was  a  Kurd  from  the  same  section  ;  and  one  of 
the  most  efficient  assistants  in  the  preparation  of  the  version 
of  the  Bible  in  the  Turkish  language  was  a  Kurd  who  had 
no  education  in  foreign  languages,  simply  what  he  had  obtained 
from  Arabic,  Persian  and  Turkish  literature.  No  one  can 
travel  through  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan,  south  of  Van, 
without  coming  in  contact  with  men  whose  personal  dignity 
of  character  and  whose  wide  information  astonish  him.  Not 


HISTORY  OF  THE  KURDS. 


93 


a  few  who  have  known  of  these  people  have  thought  that 
possibly  with  them  lay  the  solution  as  to  the  ultimate  rule  of 
that  whole  section. 

Authentic  history  of  the  Kurdish  people  dates  back  not 
much  more  than  three  centuries.  Before  that  time  they  were 
simply  a  collection  of  tribes  with  some  racial  unity,  develop¬ 
ing  the  idea  expressed  by  the  legend  of  their  origin.  Occa¬ 
sionally  chieftains  made  themselves  a  wider  reputation.  Sala- 
din,  the  famous  Ameer  of  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  was  a  Kurd 
whose  nomad  instincts  and  ability  placed  him  at  the  head  of 
the  Moslem  foes  of  the  European  kings.  In  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  they  came  under  the  power  of  the 
Ottoman  and  Persian  rulers,  though  the  fealty  that  they  ren¬ 
dered  was  perhaps  scarcely  worth  the  name.  Until  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  century  they  confined  themselves  chiefly  to 
the  mountain  ranges  bordering  Turkey  and  Persia,  spreading 
out  upon  the  plains  merely  for  occasional  pasturage,  but 
within  the  last  half  century  the  tribes  have  spread  east  and 
west,  but  principally  west.  Little  by  little  they  occupied  the 
whole  of  the  mountain  section  of  Eastern  Turkey;  then  the 
mountain  ranges  skirting  the  Black  Sea  ;  then  the  Taurus, 
until  to-day  they  are  found  in  varying  numbers  and  with  some 
modified  characteristics,  yet  still  evidently  of  the  same  race, 
even  as  far  west  as  the  borders  of  the  Salt  Plain  of  Western 
Asia  Minor. 

The  Kurds  first  came  into  prominence  as  an  essential  or  at 
least  important  element  in  the  problems  affecting  the  Turkish 
Government,  about  the  time  of  the  Russo-Turkish  war  in 
1876.  Hitherto  they  had  been  looked  upon  chiefly  as  an 
element  of  disturbance,  but  not  of  dread.  Whenever  the 
government  became  more  impatient  than  usual  with  their 


94 


SIEGE  OF  ERZRUM. 


raids,  a  strong  hand  was  put  forth  and  they  were  speedily 
brought  to  terms.  There  was  no  apparent  thought  on  their 
part  of  any  united  action,  or  on  the  part  of  the  Turks  that 
they  could  be  in  any  way  made  use  of. 

The  siege  of  Erzrum  and  attending  battles  on  the  border 
first  brought  the  Kurds  into  contact  with  the  more  advanced 
methods  of  western  warfare.  They  had  seen  something  of 
it  at  Kars  in  1856,  but  there  had  not  then  been  the  advance 
made  in  the  weapons  used  which  characterized  the  conflicts 
of  twenty  years  later,  and  it  seems  to  have  made  little  impres¬ 
sion.  On  this  latter  occasion  the  Kurdish  chiefs  with  their 
men  hung  on  the  outskirts  of  both  armies  pillaging  each  with 
scrupulous  impartiality.  They  had  no  love  for  either  Sultan 
or  Czar,  and  looked  upon  the  soldiers,  whether  wounded  or 
dead  upon  the  battlefield,  chiefly  as  furnishing  material 
for  their  own  better  arming.  Two  results  followed.  There 
was  a  marvelous  distribution  of  modern  arms  throughout  the 
Kurdish  mountains,  and  a  perfect  revelation  as  to  the  methods 
of  modern  warfare  and  the  power  that  even  they  might 
exert.  More  than  this,  however,  there  was  borne  in  upon 
the  Kurdish  mind  that  neither  Sultan  nor  Czar  was  omnipo¬ 
tent.  The  sudden  arrest  of  the  Russian  advance  and  the 
subsequent  evacuation  of  Erzrum  could  not  in  their  mind  be 
attributed  to  the  power  of  the  Turk.  There  must  be  other 
influences  more  mighty  than  he.  In  one  way  or  another  there 
came  reports  of  the  great  Queen  of  England,  the  Emperor 
of  Germany  and  his  wonderful  minister. 

The  author  was  lunching  one  day  in  a  Kurdish  village,  not 
far  from  Arbela,  when  he  had  a  call  from  a  Kurdish  Sheikh, 
who  asked  him  to  read  the  inscription  on  a  magnificent  pistol. 
He  read,  “  Providence  Tool  Company,  Providence,  Rhode 


OPEN  WAR. 


95 


Island.”  The  Sheikh  would  say  nothing  as  to  where  and  how 
he  gained  possession  of  this  weapon,  but  it  did  not  require 
much  shrewdness  to  identify  him  with  one  of  the  leaders, 
who  brought  terror  to  the  stragglers,  both  Turks,  and  Russians, 
in  the  war  that  had  only  ceased  two  years  before.  More  sig¬ 
nificant,  however,  were  the  questions  he  asked  about  Glad, 
stone,  Bismarck,  Queen  Victoria,  the  Czar,  etc.,  and  especially 
those  in  which  he  tried  to  sound  the  visitor  as  to  the  relations 
between  those  men  and  the  Sultan  and  Shah.  He  did  not 
get  much  satisfaction,  but  his  talk  came  very  vividly  to  mind 
a  few  weeks  later,  when  a  messenger  from  the  most  powerful 
chief  of  the  mountains  came  to  the  same  traveler  to  ask,  in 
a  strictly  private  way,  how  he  could  best  come  into  com¬ 
munication  with  the  Queen  of  England,  whom  he  desired  to 
recognize  as  his  suzerain.  It  was  easy  to  refer  him  to  an 
English  Consul,  with  the  explanation  that  Americans  had 
nothing  to  do  with  Oriental  politics. 

The  first  fruit  of  this  was  manifest  two  years  later,  when  the 
chief  who  sent  this  last  question  declared  open  war  on  the 
Shah,  and  started  on  an  expedition  that  for  a  time  threatened 
ruin  to  the  two  large  cities  in  Northern  Persia.  Sheikh 
Obeidullah  was  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  the  Kurdish 
chief.  A  man  of  wide  acquaintance,  shrewd  judgment,  bound¬ 
less  ambition,  and  fine  bearing,  he  was  evidently  fitted  to 
inaugurate  a  Kurdish  kingdom.  He  was  connected,  too,  with 
the  Nakshibendi  order  of  Dervishes,  and  could  bring  to  his 
support  the  mighty  influence  of  that,  the  most  powerful  order 
in  Western  Asia.  When  he  started  out  from  the  fastnesses 
of  the  mountains  north  of  Rowandiz  there  was  terror  every¬ 
where,  and  not  a  few  felt  that  not  merely  had  a  new  element 
entered  the  conflict,  but  one  whose  power  was  beyond  com- 


9  6 


DANGERS  TO  THE  SULTAN. 


putation.  He  traversed  the  plain  south  of  Lake  Urumia, 
appeared  before  the  city,  and  even  threatened  Tabriz.  He 
doubtless  made  his  first  attack  on  Persia,  as  the  weaker  of  the 
two  empires,  planning,  in  case  of  success  there,  to  measure 
strength  with  the  Sultan.  He  doubtless  hoped  also  to  make 
such  an  impression  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  Europe.  He 
was  disappointed,  however.  His  followers,  with  no  discipline 
or  morale,  proved  absolutely  unmanageable  when  it  came  to 
meeting  even  the  play  troops  of  the  Persian  army,  and  the 
tumbledown  walls  of  Urumia.  They  soon  became  disheart¬ 
ened,  feared  lest  they  should  lose  the  plunder  already  collected, 
and  the  army  of  many  thousand  men  melted  away  like  dew. 

As  a  Turkish  subject  the  Sheikh,  under  the  representations 
from  Teheran,  was  taken  as  a  captive  to  Constantinople.  He 
was  confined  for  a  time  in  an  apartment  of  the  palace,  but 
managed  to  escape  in  the  form  of  a  green  dove,  as  the  nursery 
stories  went.  He  was  found,  however,  back  in  his  old  home, 
and  again  seized  and  sent  into  exile  in  Arabia,  where  in  due 
time  he  died. 

This  experience,  however,  had  its  lessons  for  the  Turkish 
Government.  It  was  evident  that  there  was  an  element  of 
danger  in  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan,  which,  added  to  the 
other  dangers  menacing  the  Sultan,  from  the  activity  of  the 
Armenians,  the  pressure  from  the  European  powers,  and  the 
general  hostility  to  his  Caliphate  among  the  Arabs,  might 
easily  prove  very  serious.  Were  the  Kurds  to  join  the  Arabs, 
Turkish  rule  in  Eastern  Turkey  and  Mesopotamia  would  be 
at  an  end.  Were  they  to  join  the  Armenians  the  result  would 
be  equally  disastrous.  Such  a  thing  may  seem  absurd,  and 
yet  it  was  not  so  absurd  as  might  appear.  The  one  power 
that  seemed  to  Sheikh  Obeidullah  and  doubtless  to  his  friends 


PLUNDER  AND  FINERY. 


97 


as  the  one  to  be  courted,  was  England.  England  was  well 
understood  to  be  the  patron  of  the  Armenians.  The  Kurds 
had  little  hostility  to  the  Armenians  themselves.  They  were 
glad  to  plunder  them  when  they  could,  and  very  ready  to 
raise  the  Moslem  cry  if  it  served  their  turn  ;  but  in  the  main 
Kurdish  and  Armenian  mountaineers  had  gotten  along  to¬ 
gether  fairly  well.  It  was  the  villages  of  the  plain  that  had 
the  most  to  fear.  Both  alike  suffered  from  the  Turkish  Gov¬ 
ernment,  both  alike  dreaded  Russia.  It  is  by  no  means  in¬ 
conceivable  that  the  two  should  have  united  forces  against 
both  governments. 

Whether  this  fear  came  to  the  Turkish  authorities  or  not, 
it  is  certain  that  they  took  the  most  effective  way  to  prevent 
such  a  union. 

The  two  things  that  appeal  most  to  a  Kurd  are  plunder  and 
finery.  If  he  can  appropriate  other  people’s  sheep  and  goods 
and  dress  himself  in  showy  colors  he  is  happy.  With  true 
Oriental  shrewdness  the  Turkish  Government  took  advantage 
of  this  and  sent  word  to  the  chiefs  to  organize  a  portion  of 
their  men  into  a  sort  of  irregular  cavalry.  They  were  to  be 
provided  with  uniforms  and  arms,  were  to  be  honored  with 
the  Sultan’s  own  name,  Hamid,  and  called  the  Hamidieh  Cav¬ 
alry.  At  first  there  was  some  dismay,  for  it  is  the  unvarying 
rule  of  the  Turkish  Government  to  send  its  soldiers  far  away 
from  their  own  homes  for  active  service.  That  rule  was 
broken  in  this  case.  The  Hamidieh  were  especially  favored 
and  permitted  to  remain  in  their  own  mountains,  where  they 
were  authorized  to  act  as  police.  The  effect  of  this  was  to 
give  them  absolutely  unlimited  opportunity  for  plunder.  The 
slightest  defense  on  the  part  of  the  Armenians  against  a  raid 
was  sufficient  pretext  to  warrant  their  punishment  for  open  in- 


KURDS  AS  DEMONS. 


98 

surrection,  and  this  was  what  happened  throughout  Eastern 
Turkey  and  even  to  the  west,  wherever  the  Kurds  extended. 
The  result  has  been  to  bring  out  into  bold  relief  the  worst  el¬ 
ements  in  the  Kurdish  character.  The  atrocities  committed 
by  them  have  been  horrible  beyond  description.  They  have 
showed  no  mercy  to  any.  They  have  become  so  identified 
with  robbery,  murder  and  outrage,  that  not  merely  have  the 
Armenians  come  to  dread  them  as  demons,  but  the  Turks 
themselves  often  look  upon  them  as  the  most  dangerous 
allies.  At  the  same  time  their  innate  cowardice  as  well  as 
their  weakness  have  been  made  most  apparent.  In  every 
case  where  they  have  carried  devastation  to  places  of  any 
size  or  strength  it  has  been  with  the  aid  of  Turks,  and  when¬ 
ever  the  Turkish  Government  has  really  sought  to  ward  off 
their  attacks  it  has  done  so  with  perfect  ease.  In  defenseless 
villages  they  have  proved  a  perfect  tornado  of  devastation, 
but  in  not  a  single  city  have  they  unaided  been  able  to  accom¬ 
plish  anything.  In  the  attack  on  Harput,  where  the  houses 
of  the  American  missionaries  were  destroyed,  they  were  as¬ 
sisted  by  the  Turkish  rabble  from  the  city  itself  and  by  Turk¬ 
ish  soldiers  in  disguise  ;  but  when,  as  at  Mardin,  they  sought 

alone  to  attack  the  city,  they  were  easily  driven  back. 

The  term  Arab  is  applied  in  popular  use  to  all  the  Moslem 

subjects  of  the  Sultan  who  use  the  Arabic  language,  and  they 
are  found  in  Syria,  Mesopotamia  and  Arabia.  In  fact  a  large 
number  of  these  are  not  Arabs  at  all.  In  both  Northern 
Syria  and  along  the  Lebanon,  the  great  mass  are  Syrians  who 
early  accepted  Islam,  and  are  of  the  same  race  as  their 
Christian  fellows  of  the  Jacobite  and  Chaldean  Churches. 
Thus,  in  the  cities  of  Aleppo,  Mardin  and  Mosul  there  are 
comparatively  few  pure  Arabs,  although  genuine  Arab  tribes 


THE  ARABS. 


99 


press  very  closely  upon  the  borders  of  all  these  places. 
Arabia  itself,  being  practically  independent,  with  the  exception 
of  the  provinces  of  Hejaz  and  Yemen,  has  comparatively  little 
to  do  with  Turkish  history,  and  notwithstanding  that  the 
Bedouin  tribes  of  Mesopotamia  partake  frequently  of  the 
general  characteristics  of  the  mountain  Kurds,  they  still  have 
come  into  little  antagonism  with  Christians.  They  prefer  the 
free  life  of  the  plains  and  are  not  feared  by  the  villagers  as 
are  the  rougher  Moslems  to  the  East.  The  chief  interest  for 
Turkish  history  connected  with  the  Arabs  arises  from  the 
control  Turkey  has  held,  ever  since  the  conquering  of  Egypt, 
of  the  provinces  of  Arabia,  where  the  Moslem  religion  has 
its  center.  The  Arabs  of  Mecca  and  Medina,  and  also  those 
of  the  province  of  Yemen,  have  always  hated  the  Turk.  The 
Moslem  law  says  that  the  caliph  should  be  a  member  of  the 
tribe  of  Koreish,  and  to  have  that  high  honor,  so  dignified  by 
the  rulers  of  Bagdad  and  their  followers,  assumed  by  a  Tartar 
from  Central  Asia  is  a  standing  grievance  with  the  descend¬ 
ants  of  the  Prophet  and  his  kinsmen.  Hence  the  Turkish 
hold  upon  those  provinces  has  always  been  very  slight, 
scarcely  more  than  its  hold  upon  any  of  the  interior  sections. 
Revolts  in  Yemen  have  become  so  common  a  phrase  that 
they  scarcely  attract  any  special  attention.  The  whole  prov¬ 
ince  is  in  a  chronic  state  of  disturbance,  and  almost  at  any 
time,  were  Arabs  really  to  exert  themselves,  or  could  they 
unite,  they  could  throw  off  the  Ottoman  rule.  More  im¬ 
portant  in  many  ways  than  the  regular  Arabs  are  the 
Syrians.  They  are  shrewd,  proud,  ambitious,  love  dis¬ 
play  and  manifest  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  a  race 
which  for  centuries  was  subject  and  then  assumed  the 
ascendancy. 


IOO 


THE  CIRCASSIANS, 


The  Circassians,  who  are  found  in  numbers  in  Asia  Minor, 
from  Constantinople  to  Sivas,  along  the  shores  of  the  Black 
Sea,  and  also  to  a  considerable  extent  in  European  Turkey, 
are  mostly  the  followers  of  Schamyl,  the  famous  leader 
who  was  defeated  by  the  Russians  in  1859.  They  are  bold 
and  daring,  far  more  fearless  and  aggressive  than  the  Kurds 
and  are  also  of  a  higher  type  of  ability  and  character.  The 
Sultan  listened  to  their  appeal  for  protection  and  gave  them 
a  cordial  welcome  into  his  domains.  He  appropriated  to 
them  certain  lands  and  then  practically  left  them  to  claim  pos¬ 
session  and  to  extend  their  claim  wherever  they  could.  As  a 
result,  for  a  number  of  years  they  were  a  terror  to  all,  Mos¬ 
lem  and  Christian.  Gradually,  however,  they  settled  down 
and  then  their  industry  manifested  itself  and  the  Circassian 
communities  in  many  cases  attained  a  good  degree  of  pros¬ 
perity.  Naturally  they  brought  more  or  less  of  their  brigand 
style  of  life  and  of  dealing  with  them,  and  even  the  settled 
communities  included  not  a  few  who  relied  for  their  subsist¬ 
ence  upon  plunder.  One  thing  may  be  said  in  their  favor. 
They  brought  their  wagons  with  them  from  the  Caucasus, 
and  have  done  more  perhaps  than  any  others  to  change  the 
method  of  transportation.  Accustomed  to  rough  roads  in 
their  old  home,  the  absence  of  roads  in  Turkey  did  not  terrify 
them  and  they  set  to  work  to  make  some,  and  to  them  per¬ 
haps  more  than  to  almost  any  other  influence  was  due  the 
gradual  disappearance  in  certain  sections  of  carriage  by  horse 
and  mule  caravan.  Akin  to  the  Circassians  are  the  Lazes, 
found  chiefly  in  the  region  of  Trebizond.  They,  however, 
are  of  a  lower  grade,  more  brutal  and  less  reliable,  more 
easily  led  into  outrage  and  violence  of  the  lower  order.  Their 


OTHER  MOSLEM  TRIBES. 


IOI 


work  is  especially  seen  in  the  massacres  in  the  region  of 
Trebizond,  Baiburt  and  Erzrum. 

In  Western  Asia  Minor,  in  the  mountains  back  of  Smyrna 
and  throughout  the  generally  rough  country  as  far  east  as  An¬ 
gora,  there  are  numerous  Moslem  tribes  passing  under  one 
name  or  another  according  to  the  location— Xeibecks,  Av- 
shars,  Yoruks,  etc.  They  are  a  wild,  lawless,  brutal  lot,  a 
terror  to  everyone  in  the  whole  region.  They  know  no  re¬ 
straint  of  any  kind  and  put  at  defiance  all  law.  Occasionally, 
when  their  depredations  upon  the  plains  or  villages  have 
become  too  severe,  the  Turkish  Government  has  sent  out  some 
troops,  but  ordinarily  they  have  held  their  own  in  the  moun¬ 
tain  fastnesses  and  plundered  the  villages  and  towns  and 
carried  into  exile  prominent  citizens,  holding  them  for  heavy 
ransom.  In  this  respect  they  have  vied  with  some  of  the  well- 
known  Greek  brigands,  until  it  was  scarcely  safe  for  foreign¬ 
ers  to  ride  out  an  hour  s  distance  from  the  cities  of  Smyrna 
Manisa  or  Aidin. 

Ordinarily  associated  with  Moslems  and  classed  in  a  sense 
as  Moslems  by  the  Turkish  Government,  yet  not  belonging 
to  them  really,  are  three  strange  communities  in  Syria  and 
Mesopotamia;  the  Nusairiyeh  and  Druzes  in  Syria  and  the 
Yezidis  in  Mesopotamia.  The  Nusairiyeh  have  their  head¬ 
quarters  in  the  cities  of  Adana,  Tarsus  and  Latakia,  and  num¬ 
ber  perhaps  300,000.  Their  origin  is  lost  in  obscurity.  Some 
claim  that  they  are  descended  from  the  Persians ;  others  that 
they  are  the  remnant  of  the  tribes  that  Joshua  drove  out  of 
Palestine.  Their  religious  practices,  which  are  held  very 
secret,  sustain  the  theory  of  their  descent  from  the  ancient 
heathen  tribes  of  Palestine.  They  receive  their  name  from  a 
renowned  leader  and  teacher,  and  their  religious  system  was 


102 


THE  NUSAIRIYEH. 


brought  to  perfection  by  one  of  his  descendants.  They  claim 
to  be  followers  of  Mohammed,  but  are  really  pagans,  the  claim 
being  a  diplomatic  one,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  the 
terrible  oppression  of  the  Moslem  rule.  They  hold  to  special 
mysteries  into  which  none  are  initiated  under  eighteen  years 
of  age,  and  each  applicant  must  bring  twelve  men  as  security, 
and  these  must  each  be  secured  by  two  others.  He  is  then 
required  to  swear  by  all  the  heavenly  bodies  never  to  reveal 
the  mysteries  under  penalty  of  having  hands,  feet  and  head 
severed  from  his  body.  It  is,  as  a  consequence,  almost  im¬ 
possible  to  learn  anything  from  them,  and  one  of  their  number 
at  Adana,  who  revealed  their  mysteries  in  part,  disappeared 
shortly  afterwards,  and  undoubtedly  suffered  the  penalty. 
They  worship  fire,  the  wind,  the  waves  of  the  sea — anything 
that  manifests  power ;  are  hearty  believers  in  the  transmigra¬ 
tion  of  souls,  and  occasionally  have  a  strange  mixture  of 
paganism  and  Islam.  They  have  numerous  feasts,  and  some 
of  their  religious  rights  are  said  to  be  most  vile.  They  are 
revengeful  and  practice  blood  atonement.  They  are  thievish 
and  tricky  to  the  very  last  degree,  and  their  general  morality 
is  very  low.  At  the  same  time  many  of  them  manifest 
elements  of  character  of  great  interest,  and  their  shrewdness 
makes  conversation  with  them  almost  fascinating.  Their 
relations  to  the  Turkish  Government  have  always  been  uncer¬ 
tain.  They  have  been  heavily  oppressed  and  have  been  called 
on  to  furnish  tributes,  but  are  such  adepts  in  the  art 
of  deception  that  even  the  government  has  found  it  impossible 
to  carry  out  all  its  designs  with  them. 

The  Yezidis  are  popularly  known  as  devil  worshippers, 
though  this  is  probably  incorrect  and  due  partly  to  the  secrecy 
of  their  rites,  and  partly  to  their  idea  of  propitiating  the  powers 


THE  YEZIDIS. 


103 


of  evil.  They  belong  to  those  Arabs  who  refused  to  accept 
Islam,  and  gathered  in  a  loose  organization  under  a  certain 
sheik  from  the  region  of  Damascus,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
twelfth  century.  Under  Moslem  rule  they  have  in  a  certain 
way  accepted  Mohammedanism,  at  least  in  outward  appear¬ 
ance,  though  they  entertain  a  deep-seated  hatred  for  Moslems, 
whether  Arabs  or  Kurds,  and  are  in  return  treated  by  them 
with  contempt.  They  are  found  both  in  the  mountains  to  the 
east  of  the  Tigris  and  also  in  the  Sinjar  Hills  west  of  Mosul,  as 
well  as  in  the  vicinity  of  that  city  itself.  Those  in  the  moun¬ 
tains  use  the  Kurdish  language,  but  those  on  the  plains  use 
Arabic  as  well.  They  are  an  agricultural  people,  live  in 
villages,  and  as  a  rule  are  neater  and  cleaner  in  their  dress 
than  either  the  Arabs  or  the  Kurds.  In  the  main  they  are 
quiet  and  industrious,  but  in  the  northern  sections  amono*  the 
mountains  they  are  given  to  highway  robbery,  and  in  the  Sin- 
jar  Hills,  where  they  are  in  the  great  majority,  they  are  restive 
and  hostile  to  the  Turkish  Government.  Their  religious 

o 

belief  is  very  confused.  They  believe  in  God  as  the  Supreme 
Deity,  but  have  nothing  to  do  with  Him  in  the  way  of  worship 
or  service.  They  believe  in  an  emanation  from  God  who  is 
eternal,  the  Melek  Taoos,  or  King  Peacock,  who  became  in¬ 
carnate  as  Lucifer,  deceived  Adam  and  Eve  as  Satan,  and  is 
one  of  the  seven  gods  who  in  turn  ruled  the  world  for  ten 
thousand  years.  They  also  worship  the  Sheik  to  whom  they 
owe  the  organization  of  their  religious  system,  and  various 
other  gods.  They  hold  to  the  transmigration  of  souls  and 
give  a  qualified  reverence  to  the  Scriptures,  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  They  have  a  religious  oligarchy  composed  of 
six  orders ;  the  Ameer,  Sheiks,  and  priests,  who  are 
Nazarites,  having  taken  vows  of  celibacy.  They  worship  the 


104 


THE  DRUZES. 


sun  and  fire,  and  once  a  year  perform  the  service  before  the 
emblem  of  the  Peacock,  which  is  carried  to  the  different 
villages.  They  have  no  liturgy  and  observe  several  feasts. 
Their  relations  to  the  Turkish  Government  have  been  not 
unlike  those  of  the  Nusairiyeh,  except  that  they  have  suffered 
more  severely  than  that  community.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century  there  was  a  terrible  massacre  in  which  thou¬ 
sands  of  them  were  put  to  death. 

More  notable  than  either  of  these  previous  classes,  although 
much  smaller  in  numbers,  is  the  sect  or  race  of  the  Druzes, 
living  in  Northern  Syria,  along  the  slopes  of  the  Lebanon. 
They  have  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  towns  and  villages, 
and  are  estimated  at  a  total  population  of  65,000.  Their 
chief  town  is  Deir-el-Kamar,  about  fifteen  miles  southeast  of 
Beirut.  Like  the  Nusairiyeh,  they  are  generally  supposed  to 
have  descended  from  the  pagan  peoples  of  the  land,  especially 
the  Cuthites,  who  re-peopled  Samaria ;  or  perhaps  partly  from 
the  Mardis,  brought  to  Lebanon  by  Constantine,  with  an 
element  of  the  Arabs  and  possibly  something  of  the  Crusad¬ 
ers.  Their  own  traditions  indicate  a  widely  extended  knowl¬ 
edge,  and  in  their  conversation  and  manners  they  show  a 
certain  refinement  which  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  other 
Syrian  races.  The  reputed  author  of  their  peculiar  religion, 
which  is  held  in  secret  by  them,  was  a  caliph  of  Egypt  at  the 
close  of  the  tenth  century,  who  was  undoubtedly  insane,  but 
who  left  the  impress  of  his  ferocity  upon  the  people.  They 
do  not  acknowledge  the  claims  of  any  other  religion,  but  allow 
the  profession  of  any  religion  according  to  expediency,  and 
unite  with  the  Moselm  in  many  of  his  services.  So  also  they 
at  times  will  sprinkle  with  holy  water  in  the  Maronite  churches. 
Far  from  being  fatalists  as  the  Moslems,  they  recognize 


MASSACRES  OF  i860. 


105 


absolutely  the  freedom  of  the  human  will.  Ordinarily  they 
are  quiet  and  peaceable,  but  on  occasion  are  stirred  to  terrible 
ferocity,  as  was  seen  in  the  massacres  of  i860,  when  they 
killed  so  many  Maronites,  and  at  the  present  time  they  furnish 
the  Turkish  Government  with  not  a  little  cause  for  uneasiness. 
A  threatened  revolt  in  the  winter  resulted  in  calling  out  the 
reserves  of  the  Turkish  army,  and  for  a  time  there  was  fear 
of  a  general  outbreak.  This,  however,  was  averted  and 
quiet  was  restored. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Armenians. 


Their  Origin — Early  History — First  Nation  to  Accept  Christianity — Dispersion  Under 
Oppression — Change  from  Agricultural  to  Commercial  People — General  Characteristics; 
Loyalty  to  Nation  and  Religion — Industry — Morality — Intellectual  Ability — Shrewdness 
— Jealousy  of  One  Another — Influence  of  Missions  and  European  Ideas — Growth  of 
National  Ambition — Armenians  in  Russia — Autonomy — Armenians  in  Other  Countries — 
Patriarch  Mattheos — Outlook  for  the  Future. 

THE  Armenians  are  generally  supposed,  from  their  lan¬ 
guage,  to  be  of  Aryan  origin,  though  having  not  a  little 
in  common  with  the  Turanian,  or  at  least  the  non-Aryan  races. 
In  the  Assyrian  period,  their  country  was  occupied  by  the 
Nairi  and  Urarda,  both  probably  Turanian  stock.  When  the 
Aryan  Armenian  migration  occurred  is  not  known,  but  the 
name  first  occurs,  in  the  form  of  Armaniya,  in  a  Persian  cunei¬ 
form  inscription  of  Darius  Hystaspis,  522-486  B.  c. 

According  to  Armenian  tradition,  the  name  is  derived  from 
a  king,  Aram,  under  whose  rule  the  nation  achieved  consider¬ 
able  power,  though  subsequently  overcome  by  the  mythical 
Queen  Semiramis  of  Assyria.  They  do  not,  however,  call 
themselves  Armenians,  but  Haik,  and  their  country  Haiasdan, 
after  Haik,  whom  they  consider  the  son  of  Togarmah,  the  son 
of  Gomer,  the  son  of  Japhet,  the  son  of  Noah.  He,  according 
to  their  traditions,  established  the  Armenian  kingdom  in  the 
vicinity  of  Ararat,  to  which  country  he  had  escaped  from  the 
tyranny  of  Belus,  the  king  of  Assyria,  at  an  uncertain  date, 
perhaps  2000  B.  c.  From  that  time  on  they  were  a  more  oi 
less  powerful  people,  sometimes  achieving  a  period  of  inde- 
pendence,  but  generally  succumbing  to  the  attacks  of  the 
more  powerful  kingdoms  that  arose  to  the  south  and  west. 

(106) 


ARMENIAN  WOMAN.  A  good  illustration  of  the  Armenian  type.  The 
head-dress  is  that  usually  found  in  the  Caucasus.  The  Armenian  women,  as  a 
rule,  are  fine  looking,  with  intelligent  faces  and  womanly  bearing.  This  is  especially 
noticeable  in  the  case  of  old  women.  Among  the  oriental  races,  as  a  rule,  the  old 
women  are  not  handsome,  but  the  reverse  is  true  of  the  Armenian  women. 


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DURTAD  RE-ENTHRONED. 


IO9 

Any  accurate  statement  of  those  early  years  it  is  impossible 
to  make.  It  appears  to  be  the  fact  that  most  of  their  kings, 
among  them  Tigranes,  the  friend  of  Cyrus,  the  younger 
Chosroes  of  the  family  of  the  Arsacidae,  and  Mithridates, 
were  not  of  Armenian  origin,  but  chieftians  from  the  neigh¬ 
boring  races,  Parthian  or  others,  who  by  personal  force  of 
character  gained  a  supremacy,  and  established  for  the  time 
being  what  was  called  an  Armenian  kingdom. 

On  the  defeat  by  the  Persians  of  Chosroes,  of  the  family  of 
the  Arsacidae,  his  young  son  Durtad  escaped  and  went  to 
Rome.  He  subsequently  gained  the  assistance  of  Rome  and 
was  re-established  upon  his  throne.  It  was  through  his  influ¬ 
ence  in  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century,  that  the  Armenians 
as  a  nation  accepted  Christianity.  This  was  the  signal  for 
renewed  attacks  by  Persia,  and  the  kingdom  met  with  various 
fortunes,  achieving  a  certain  independence  under  the  sway  of 
the  family  of  the  Pagratidae,  who  for  two  centuries  maintained 
a  general  authority  in  what  was  known  as  Armenia.  In  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  the  Byzantine  Empire  became 
master  of  the  greater  part  of  the  country,  and  in  the 
fourteenth  century  the  Ottomans  commenced  the  reign  that 
has  been  carried  on  till  the  present  day. 

Armenian  history  states  that,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  Abgar, 
of  their  royal  line,  was  king  of  Edessa  or  Urfa  in  Northern 
Mesopotamia.  In  other  histories  he  is  spoken  of  as  King  of 
the  i\rabs,  but  the  Armenians  claim  him  for  themselves.  The 
name  is  certainly  Armenian.  According  to  the  chief  Arme¬ 
nian  historian,  this  king  listened  to  the  preaching  of  Thaddeus, 
one  of  the  seventy  disciples  who  were  sent  forth  by  Christ, 
and  was  also  healed  by  him  of  a  severe  disease.  The  result 
was  that  he  accepted  the  Christian  faith,  and  was  baptized 


no 


GREGORY,  THE  ILLUMINATOR. 


with  his  whole  family.  His  successor,  however,  refused  to 
follow  in  his  steps,  and  persecuted  the  people  so,  that  this  in¬ 
cipient  growth  of  Christianity  was  almost  destroyed.  In  the 
time  of  Durtad  (Tiridates),  in  the  latter  part  of  the  third 
century,  under  the  influence  of  Gregory  the  Illuminator,  as  he 
is  called,  there  was  a  great  revival  of  Christianity,  and  it  was 
accepted  as  the  religion  of  the  nation.  From  this  great 
preacher  the  Church  receives  the  different  names  by  which  it  is 
known, “the Gregorian  Church,”  the “Loosavorchagan  Church  ” 
(Loosavorich  being  the  Armenian  for  “Illuminator”).  Under 
his  influence  the  king  was  baptized  in  301  A.  D.,  and  although 
there  was  bitter  opposition  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  nobles, 
the  nation  as  a  whole  followed  him,  and  the  Armenians  have 
the  distinguished  honor  of  being  the  first  people  to  make 
Christianity  their  national  religion. 

Situated  far  from  Constantinople,  it  was  natural  that  they 
should  not  mingle  intimately  with  the  theological  strifes  of  the 
early  centuries.  They  were  generally  represented  at  the 
Church  councils,  but  by  some  chance  sent  no  delegate  to  the 
Fourth  Council  at  Chalcedon  in  451  a.  d.  The  condemna¬ 
tion  at  that  council  of  Nestorianism  and  Eutychianism  was 
either  misreported  to  them,  or  misunderstood  by  them,  and  at 
a  synod  of  their  bishops  it  was  repudiated,  and  they  declared 
themselves  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Monophysite  doctrine  of 
the  nature  and  person  of  Christ.  There  thus  arose  constant 
strife  between  them  and  the  Greek  Church,  and  more  and 
more  they  were  shut  off  by  themselves,  so  that  their  national  life 
developed,  not  merely  independently  of  that  of  the  surround¬ 
ing  churches,  but  to  the  exclusion  of  any  external  influences, 
such  as  materially  affect  the  growth  of  modern  ecclesiastical 
communities.  They  would  not  accept  instruction  at  the  hands 


FORMALISM  RESULTS. 


Ill 


of  the  Western  Church,  had  no  means  of  education  within 
themselves,  and  as  a  natural  result  formalism  took  the  place 
of  spiritual  life.  This  was  assisted  by  the  constant  strife  for 
their  existence  as  a  nation,  until  the  Church,  as  a  church,  lost 
almost  its  entire  hold  upon  the  spiritual  life  of  the  people. 

The  history  of  the  Armenians  for  the  five  centuries  inter¬ 
vening  between  the  conquest  of  their  home  by  the  Turks  and 
their  coming  into  prominent  notice  before  the  Christian  world 
in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  is  one  of  constant 
conflict  between  the  disintegrating  influences  of  an  oppressive 
government  and  the  intense  national  characteristics  of  the 
people.  From  the  very  beginning  they  felt  the  terrible  rule 
of  the  Moslems,  and  as  far  back  as  1360  some  refugees  came 
to  Edward  III.  of  England  complaining  that  the  Moslems  were 
trying  to  exterminate  their  people.  A  little  was  done  for 
them.  They  were  allowed  to  live  in  England  and  to  collect 
subscriptions  for  their  fellow-sufferers,  but  that  was  about  all. 

In  a  certain  sense  the  result  of  the  oppression  was  not 
altogether  injurious.  Up  to  that  time  the  Armenians  had 
been  strictly  confined  within  their  borders.  Whatever  of 
tyranny  had  been  exercised  there  had  served  to  repress  their 
national  life.  Now  commenced  a  dispersion,  with  both  good 
and  evil  results.  They  wandered  westward  over  Asia  Minor; 
quite  a  number  settled  on  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Taurus 
and  established  a  kingdom  with  Sis  as  its  capital.  Cut  off 
from  their  own  people,  they  secured  a  patriarch  to  themselves, 
and  there  seemed  every  possibility  of  their  forming  a  distinct 
nation.  This,  however,  was  destined  to  fall  under  the  rule 
of  the  Turks,  and  they  were  scarcely  distinct  from  their 
fellows  in  other  parts  of  the  empire.  Others  wandered  east¬ 
ward  and  peopled  the  Caucasus,  which  was  then  Northern 


1 1 2 


BANKERS  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 


Persia.  Shah  Abbas  recognized  their  value  as  subjects,  and 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century  transported  a  colony  to 
the  vicinity  of  Ispahan.  This  emigration  naturally  carried  out 
of  their  own  country  some  of  the  most  aggressive  elements, 
and  as  was  not  unnatural,  those  who  remained  felt  still  more 
the  pressure  of  the  surrounding  Moslem  tribes,  who  crowded  , 
into  their  villages.  Thus  little  by  little  the  ancestral  plains  of 
Armenia  became  more  and  more  Moslem. 

Another  influence  operated  quite  forcibly.  In  a  preceding 
chapter  reference  has  been  made  to  the  custom  of  villagers 
leaving  their  homes  for  a  shorter  or  longer  term  of  life  in  the 
cities  and  larger  towns.  This  was  especially  characteristic  of 
the  Armenians.  Constantinople,  Smyrna,  Trebizond,  Adana 
and  all  the  western  cities  of  the  empire,  as  well  as  many 
inland,  depended  entirely  upon  this  form  of  emigration  for 
their  artisans  and  the  great  mass  of  their  day-laborers. 
While  many  of  these  bachelors,  as  they  were  called,  returned 
to  their  own  homes,  a  large  number  became  permanent  occu¬ 
pants  of  the  cities,  sometimes  bringing  their  families  with 
them,  sometimes  making  their  own  homes.  In  this  way  there 
grew  up  a  class  distinct  in  many  respects  from  the  original 
Armenian  population,  with  different  ambitions,  differing  needs 
and  widely  different  customs.  The  agricultural  character  of 
the  race  began  more  and  more  to  disappear  and  the  people 
became  known  as  tradesmen.  With  the  control  of  commerce 
came  the  control  of  money,  and  these  Armenian  tradesmen 
were  the  bankers  in  the  empire.  They  found  their  way  into 
the  service  of  the  government,  made  themselves  essential  to 
the  Sultans  and  governors,  and  amassed  in  many  cases  large 
fortunes. 

We  come  thus  to  the  situation  about  the  time  of  the  Treaty 


TREATY  OF  PARIS. 


IT3 

of  Paris.  The  Armenians,  no  longer  a  homogeneous  people 
with  a  national  territory  markedly  and  distinctively  their  own, 
were  scattered  to  the  number  of  from  three  to  four  millions 
over  the  whole  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  the  Caucasus  and 
Northern  Persia.  They  had  the  same  marked  racial  charac¬ 
teristics.  Physically  of  good  stature,  strong  features,  manly 
bearing;  industrious  and  frugal ;  loyal  to  their  religion  and  to 
their  nation;  of  marked  ability,  adapting  themselves  to  any 
circumstances,  whether  of  climate,  social  or  political  life  ;  very 
kindly,  sympathetic,  affectionate;  with  an  element  of  the 
jovial  in  their  life;  intensely  proud  of  their  history  and  their 
faith ;  clannish  almost  to  the  last  degree,  refusing  such  associa¬ 
tion  with  other  races  as  might  imply  the  loss  of  their  own; 
of  exceptionally  pure  morals  among  the  Eastern  races;  in¬ 
tense  lovers  of  home  and  family  life,  and  hospitable  in  the 
extreme  ;  with  acute  minds  and  suave  manners,  they  mani¬ 
fested  many  of  the  essential  elements  of  a  strong  nation. 

There  were,  however,  other  features  which  must  be  noted. 
They  were  grossly  ignorant  and  for  the  most  part  densely 
superstitious,  held  in  absolute  thrall  by  a  Hierarchy  bigoted 
and  overbearing  to  the  last  degree,  and  fully  as  ignorant 
as  the  people  whom  they  misled.  Their  constant  strife  with 
other  races  and  their  long  history  of  subjugation  had  de¬ 
veloped  a  shrewdness  of  dealing  which  partook  in  marked 
degree  of  the  unscrupulous.  They  were  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  anybody  and  of  anything  to  further  their  ends. 
Obsequious  and  servile  in  their  bearing  towards  superiors, 
they  were  looked  upon  by  the  Turk  as  a  necessary  evil; 
a  fruitful  source  of  income  in  the  shape  of  taxes,  advanta¬ 
geous  for  their  general  skill  as  artisans  and  as  servants,  but 


PRESSURE  OF  DESPOTISM. 


114 

beneath  contempt  for  their  trickery.  Similarly  they  had  the 
hatred  of  their  fellow-Christians  of  other  churches. 

There  was,  however,  another  characteristic  that  has  been 
recognized  by  their  best  men  for  years  as  operating  more 
than  almost  anything  else  to  keep  them  in  subjection  and 
prevent  their  best  development.  With  all  their  intense 
nationality  manifesting  itself  in  their  devotion  to  their  history 
and  to  their  church,  their  absolute  refusal  to  be  swallowed  up 
in  any  other  race  or  any  other  community,  there  is  a  lack  of 
mutual  confidence,  a  jealousy  of  one  another’s  advance  that 
has  made  it  impossible  for  them  as  a  race  to  hold  together  in 
any  onward  movement.  This  is  undoubtedly  due  to  intense 
individuality  and  also  to  the  pressure  of  despotism.  They 
are  not  by  any  means  lacking  in  personal  courage,  as  is 
witnessed  by  multitudes  of  instances.  Individually  they  will 
fight  for  their  lives  and  their  honor  and  especially  for  their 
families.  They  will  suffer  martyrdom  for  their  religion,  as 
they  have  suffered  repeatedly  during  the  centuries.  They 
will  sacrifice  personal  interests  for  Christ’s  sake,  but  when 
it  comes  to  the  waiving  of  personal  opinion,  the  entrusting 
of  power  and  the  rendering  of  obedience  to  others,  they 
have  throughout  their  history  failed  entirely. 

A  most  marked  instance  of  this  was  seen  in  the  city 
of  Erzrum.  A  wealthy  Armenian  from  Russia,  anxious  for 
the  education  of  his  people,  established  a  set  of  schools 
of  very  high  grade,  and  for  a  time  they  were  carried  on  most 
successfully.  But  before  long  there  came  jealousies  in  the 
management  of  those  schools;  mutual  suspicion  of  personal 
interest  on  the  part  of  the  directors,  and  year  by  year  what 
might  have  been  the  central  point  of  Armenian  national  life 
dwindled  in  strength  until  it  almost  disappeared. 


AMERICAN  MISSIONS. 


JI5 

The  result  of  these  characteristics  was  manifest  in  the 
general  situation  of  the  Armenians,  and  their  relation  to  the 
other  peoples  of  the  empire.  They  were  in  many  respects 
the  most  useful,  and  in  some  respects  almost  the  best  hated 
of  all.  Their  shrewdness  and  ability  made  them  indispen¬ 
sable.  Thus  they  were  everywhere  the  tradesmen  and  small 
bankers,  but  at  the  same  time  had  very  little  interest  in  general 
commerce.  The  business  directory  of  Constantinople  shows 
almost  no  Armenian  firms,  even  for  local  business,  and  very 
few  Armenian  houses  eno^ed  in  foreign  trade.  Then  also, 
when  Sultan  Mahmud  II.  organized  the  orovernment  on  a  semi- 

£>  o 

European  plan,  he  drew  very  largely  upon  the  Armenians  for 
his  administration  officials  in  the  various  departments,  finding 
their  versatility,  ability  and  adaptability  of  the  greatest  value. 

At  this  time  they  began  to  show  the  result  of  two  very 
powerful  influences  from  the  West — those  of  American  mis¬ 
sions,  and  of  French  literature  and  social  life.  The  influence 
of  American  missions  amongf  the  Armenians  has  been  a  great 
power.  While  the  proportion  of  those  who  have  identified 
themselves  with  what  is  known  as  evangelical  Christianity,  in 
distinction  from  the  excessive  formalism  of  the  old  Church, 
which  had  largely  lost  its  spiritual  power,  was  not  large,  it  in¬ 
cluded  many  men  of  great  influence,  and  the  general  effect 
upon  the  nation  in  opening  the  eyes  of  the  more  intelligent 
to  the  possibilities  of  the  new  century  were  very  marked. 
Wherever  an  American  missionary  went,  there  was  a  school, 
and  not  merely  a  school  of  his  own,  but  a  school  for  each  of 
the  different  communities.  The  priests  of  whatever  faith  found 
that  they  could  not  afford  to  lose  their  hold  upon  the  children 
and  young  people,  and  thus  were  sown  far  and  wide  the  seeds 
of  the  intellectual  life  that  was  spreading  so  rapidly  in  Europe. 


ii6 


NO  EDUCATION. 


The  general  condition  of  the  nation,  so  far  as  education  was 
concerned,  was  deplorable.  Throughout  the  villages  it  was 
rare  to  find  a  man  who  could  read,  and  even  in  the  towns  and 
cities  the  proportion  was  very,  very  small.  Many  of  the  priests 
even  were  unable  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  the  old  language, 
which  was  to  them  practically  dead.  The  introduction  of  these 
schools  changed  this  in  a  marked  degree.  The  natural  intellect¬ 
ual  activity  of  the  race  asserted  itself,  and  over  all  the  empire 
there  was  manifest  a  new  impulse.  So  far  as  that  impulse 
was  due  to  the  influence  of  the  missionaries,  it  was  in  the  line 
of  good  morals  and  the  best  national  development. 

Side  by  side,  however,  with  this  came  another.  As  inter¬ 
course  with  Europe  increased,  adventurous  young  men  spread 
throughout  the  schools  of  Paris  and  Vienna.  They  brought 
back  a  craze  for  French  literature,  not  the  best,  but  the  worst. 
With  this  came  a  revolt  against  religion.  It  became  fashion¬ 
able  to  be  known  as  free  thinkers,  and  free  thinking  meant 
not  liberty,  but  license  of  thought  and  of  life.  The  immediate 
effect  was  almost  appalling.  The  nation  which  had  hitherto 
been  noted  for  its  strict  morality,  became  widely  immoral. 
Gambling  was  almost  universal  among  the  young  men  in  the 
cities,  on  the  seaboard,  and  the  achievement  of  considerable 
wealth,  while  in  the  government  service,  and  the  openings  of 
trade,  had  the  effect  of  weakening  national  life.  The  pride 
of  national  life  had  not  lost  all  its  power,  but  the  hold  of 
national  principles  was  becoming  weaker.  The  best  men  in 
the  nation  looked  on  aghast,  and  longed  for  influences  that 
should  serve  as  anchors  to  keep  the  people.  Thus  there  grew 
up  a  sympathetic  feeling  between  the  better  class  of  Armenian 
ecclesiastics  and  the  American  missionaries,  whose  influence 
was  strongly  conservative. 


ENTHUSIASM  AROUSED. 


II7 

The  reigns  of  Abdul  Medjid  and  Abdul  Aziz  were  times 
of  great  advance  for  the  whole  Armenian  people.  Oppression 
still  existed,  and  oppression  of  the  worst  form,  but  they  were 
becoming  more  and  more  able  to  meet  oppression.  Not 
merely  in  the  cities,  but  throughout  the  empire,  and  even  in 
the  villages,  there  was  manifest  a  development  which  had,  as 
has  already  been  said,  its  tokens  both  of  good  and  evil,  the 
good,  in  the  main,  being  predominant.  The  advent  of  the 
present  Sultan,  following  as  it  did  upon  the  revolution  which 
showed  how  thoroughly  rotten  the  whole  Turkish  fabric  was, 
and  accompanied  by  the  events  which  resulted  in  the  formation 
of  the  Bulgarian  kingdom,  seemed  to  open  a  new  era  to  the 
Armenians.  The  young  men  who  had  been  under  the  ed¬ 
ucating  influences  of  the  different  schools  and  colleges  of  the 
Americans,  or  of  the  universities  of  Europe,  were  assuming 
positions  of  influence  among  their  people.  Furthermore,  ed¬ 
ucation  in  their  own  schools  had  brought  sharply  before  them 
their  own  former  history,  and  there  was  a  great  revival  of  in¬ 
terest  in  the  early  kings.  The  plains  and  valleys  and  moun¬ 
tains  of  Armenia  were  covered  with  a  halo,  which  perhaps  was 
not  historically  just,  but  which  served  at  any  rate  to  rouse  the 
highest  enthusiasm  among  the  people.  The  use  of  their  own 
language,  which  had  drifted  from  the  severe  simplicity  of  its 
original  form  into  a  sort  of  mongrel,  under  the  influence  of 
the  Turkish  language  and  other  surroundings,  was  coming 
back.  Everywhere  throughout  the  nation  there  was  manifest 
an  increasing  ambition  to  do  for  themselves  what  the  Bulo-a- 
nans  had  done. 

Accordingly,  at  the  conference  at  Berlin,  a  prominent 
Armenian  was  present,  and  he  set  forth  in  very  vivid  and 
glowing  terms  the  situation  of  his  people.  The  political 


n8 


CONFERENCE  AT  BERLIN. 


effect  of  this  is  reserved  for  another  chapter.  We  here  simply 
desire  to  point  out  its  effect  upon  the  nation.  That  was  un¬ 
doubtedly  in  the  main  advantageous.  It  brought  to  an  even 
higher  pitch  their  desire  for  education  ;  it  bound  them  more 
closely  together ;  brought  them  under  the  influence,  to  a  greater 
degree,  of  the  better  class  of  leaders,  and  as  a  natural  result 
the  first  ten  years  of  Abdul  Hamid’s  reign  were  coincident 
with  an  even  greater  advance  in  the  general  condition  of  the 
nation  than  had  been  made  during  the  preceding  twenty  years. 
Parallel  with  this,  however,  there  was  another  development, 
the  result  of  two  influences  :  the  free  thought  of  central  Europe 

and  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  by  their  compatriots  in  the 
Caucasus. 

Here  we  should  turn  aside  to  refer  to  that  section  of  the 
Armenian  nation  under  Russian  rule.  When  Russia  con¬ 
quered  the  Caucasus,  and  drove  the  Persians  south  of  the 
Aras  and  Schamyl’s  followers  into  Turkey,  she  found  that  for 
the  development  of  the  new  territory  she  must  depend  chiefly 
upon  the  Armenians,  who  had  already  come  in  in  consider¬ 
able  numbers.  Accordingly  they  were  made  welcome  and 
for  some  time  a  good  degree  of  freedom  was  allowed  them. 
Their  national  church  was  not  interfered  with,  and  though 
their  schools  were  under  close  supervision,  they  were  not 
prevented  from  developing  to  a  considerable  degree  their 
national  life.  At  the  same  time  they  were  practically  unre¬ 
stricted  in  trade.  The  easy-going  Georgians  were  no  match 
for  them,  and  in  Tiflis,  Schemachi,  Shusha,  Baku,  Erivan, 
Armenian  influence  became  very  strong,  so  that  it  was  not 
surprising  that  there  arose  a  dream  of  national  independence. 
They  probably  did  not  expect  to  wrest  any  portion  of  Russian 
territory  from  the  hand  of  the  Czar,  but  they  did  apparently 


REPRESSION  COMMENCED. 


II9 


hope  for  a  revival  of  ancient  Armenia  in  that  portion  under 
Turkish  rule.  So  long  however  as  their  condition  in  Russia 
was  fairly  comfortable  they  made  little  attempt  in  that  direc¬ 
tion.  But  it  became  apparent  to  the  Russian  Government  as 
the  years  went  by  that  there  was  danger  lest  they  find  diffi¬ 
culty  in  carrying  out  the  general  policy  of  the  empire,  which 
was  to  weld  its  very  heterogeneous  population  into  a  solid 
mass.  Accordingly  a  system  of  repression  was  commenced. 
Everywhere  the  Armenians  felt  the  severe  iron  hand  that 
drove  the  people  on  the  Baltic  to  despair.  Their  schools 
were  more  and  more  interfered  with.  Their  monastery  and 
its  theological  department  at  Etchmiadzine  were  watched 
with  the  eye  of  a  detective,  and  both  in  the  choice  of  the 
Catholicos  (the  Primate  of  the  Armenian  Church)  and  in  the 
conduct  of  his  office,  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Synod  was 
exercised  in  no  slight  degree.  Naturally  the  people  became 
restive.  They  had  seen  the  success  of  the  Pan-Slavist  Com¬ 
mittee  in  stirring  up  the  disturbances  in  the  Balkan  Penin¬ 
sula,  and  they  conceived  the  plan  of  accomplishing  the  same 
thing  for  their  compatriots  in  Turkey.  The  fuller  statement 
of  this  will  come  in  a  later  chapter  on  the  Rise  of  the 
Armenian  Question.  Here  we  note  simply  that  the  general 
effect  upon  the  Armenian  people  was  to  create  still  more  of 
dissatisfaction  with  their  situation  under  the  Turkish  rule  and 
fill  their  minds  with  visions  of  political  independence. 

Parallel  with  this  was  the  other  influence  referred  to,  that 
of  the  free  thought  of  Central  Europe.  The  young  men  who 
had  been  educated  in  the  schools  of  France  and  Germany 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  stories  of  the  revolutions 
that  marked  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  early  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Lacking  the  substantial  basis  of 


120 


PROTEST  TO  EUROPE. 


careful  investigation,  not  even  knowing,  or  at  least  not  recog¬ 
nizing,  the  true  character  of  their  own  history,  they  sought  to 
enkindle  a  flame  not  so  much  of  revolt  against  the  Turkish 
Government  as  of  protest  to  Europe  against  that  govern¬ 
ment’s  oppression.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  irreligion,  even 
atheism,  that  characterized  their  movement,  they  might  per¬ 
haps  have  had  greater  influence.  In  fact  they  accomplished 
very  little,  for  they  immediately  encountered  the  general  con¬ 
servatism  of  the  nation,  which  declined  to  commit  itself  to 
the  leadership  of  those  who  had  thrown  aside  to  such  a  de¬ 
gree  the  restraints  of  the  Church.  This  was  assisted  by  the 
conviction,  or  at  least  the  fear,  that  these  men  were  not  so 
much  interested  in  the  general  welfare  of  the  people  as  in 
procuring  opportunities  for  political  advancement  for  them¬ 
selves,  and  by  the  fact  that  for  the  most  part  they  were  out 
of  the  country  and  not  liable  to  suffer  themselves  in  case  of 
trouble.  The  result  was  that  there  was  no  unity  of  action  or 
of  sentiment.  No  one  man  or  body  of  men  were  authorized 
to  speak  for  the  nation.  Individuals  set  forth  their  personal 
opinions,  but  there  was  no  telling  to  what  extent  they  repre¬ 
sented  the  people.  Constant  intrigues  weakened  the  power 
of  the  Patriarch  at  Constantinople,  the  civil  head  of  the 
nation,  and  affected  the  choice  of  the  Catholicos,  at  Etchmiad- 
zine,  its  religious  head.  Furthermore,  the  very  rigid  censor¬ 
ship  of  the  press,  the  oppressive  and  absurd  school  laws,  and 
even  the  restrictions  on  travel,  which  made  it  no  easy  matter 
for  an  Armenian  to  go  from  one  section  of  the  empire  to 
another,  all  combined  to  prevent  any  united  action  or  even 
sentiment. 

In  general  the  condition  of  the  rural  districts  had  grown 
worse.  Kurds,  Circassians  and  Lazes  held  the  greater  por- 


GENERAL  CONDITION. 


121 


tion  of  the  plains  of  Eastern  Turkey,  having  dispossessed 
the  Armenians,  without  making  good  their  place  so  far  as  tax- 
paying  was  concerned.  The  result  was  that  when  the  col¬ 
lector  came  around,  he  found  the  revenue  much  diminished, 
unless  he  could  squeeze  the  same  amount  out  of  half  the 
people.  In  the  mountains  there  was  occasionally  successful 
resistance  to  the  raids  of  freebooters,  but  that  had  crown 

o 

more  difficult  since  the  organization  of  the  Hamidieh  Kurdish 
cavalry.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  towns  and  cities,  the 
Armenians  were  advancing,  at  least  in  material  prosperity. 
Not  merely  the  trade  and  banking  but  the  real  estate  had 
come  very  largely  into  their  hands.  They  were  on  the  whole 
wealthier  and  more  comfortable.  With  material  prosperity, 
however,  there  had  not  come  proportionate  intellectual  and 
moral  power,  and  the  description  given  above  was  increas¬ 
ingly  true. 

The  bearing  of  all  this  upon  the  question  of  their  autonomy 
and  independence  as  a  nation  is  evident.  That  the  Ar¬ 
menians  have  very  many  of  the  qualities  that  make  a  suc¬ 
cessful  nation  no  one  will  deny.  Their  ability  is  undoubted. 
Their  race  tenacity  evidenced  in  their  loyalty  to  their  faith, 
even  in  its  weaker  form,  and  the  hold  that  their  lano-uao-e  has 
even  upon  those  with  whom  it  ceased  to  be  vernacular,  mark 
them  as  a  people  of  power.  Their  faculty  of  adaptation  to  new 
circumstances  in  the  use  of  any  means  that  come  to  hand 
would  ensure  in  marked  degree  success  in  meeting  new 
emergencies.  The  mutual  jealousy  and  inordinate  self-seek¬ 
ing  that  have  hitherto  proved  so  serious  a  hindrance  to  their 
general  advancement  might  very  likely  be  overcome  were 
they  compelled  by  force  of  circumstances  to  waive  personal 
feeling  or  see  everything  collapse.  Men  who  could  fight  to- 


122 


COSMOPOLITAN  CHARACTER. 


gether  as  did  the  Armenians  of  Zeitun  must  have  the  best 
elements  of  patriotism.  For  the  overcoming  of  these  ob¬ 
stacles,  however,  it  is  essential  that  there  be  the  pressure  of 
outside  circumstances.  In  the  case  of  the  Armenians  that 
pressure  was  absolutely  lacking.  They  were  very  differently 
situated  from  the  Bulgarians,  who  were  in  the  overwhelming 
majority  in  their  own  country,  which  moreover  is  compact. 
The  Armenians  are  scattered  over  the  whole  Turkish  Em¬ 
pire,  and  there  are  wide  differences  between  those  of  different 
sections.  The  mountaineers  of  Bitlis  can  neither  understand 
the  language  nor  appreciate  the  ideas  of  the  villager  of 
Harput,  much  less  those  of  the  merchant  of  Smyrna  or  Con¬ 
stantinople.  The  men  of  Aintab  and  Adana,  with  their 
Turkish,  can  scarcely  confer,  still  less  associate  intimately, 
with  those  of  Marsovan. 

Thus  the  very  cosmopolitan  character  of  the  nation,  its  ver¬ 
satility  and  ability,  all  operate  to  prevent  what  the  Armenian 
nationalists  so  much  desire,  and  these  characteristics  must  be 
kept  in  mind  if  we  would  form  an  approximately  correct  idea 
of  the  nation. 

A  word  should  be  said  about  Armenians  outside  of  their 
own  country.  As  a  rule  Armenians  do  not  make  a  pleasant 
impression  upon  the  people  of  other  countries.  They  are 
looked  upon  as  tricky,  scheming,  unreliable.  Where  they 
have  formed  colonies  of  some  size,  as  in  New  England  and 
California,  they  are  contrasted  to  their  own  great  disadvan¬ 
tage  with  the  communities  of  Scandinavians,  Germans,  and 
others.  Where  they  appear  as  individuals  in  the  cities,  in 
trade  or  as  artisans,  they  suffer  from  similar  comparisons. 
In  all  such  cases,  certain  things  must  be  kept  in  mind.  The 
colonies  are  almost  entirely  made  up  of  those  who  come  from 


ORIENTAL  CHARACTER. 


123 


the  poor  sections  of  Asia  Minor  or  Eastern  Turkey,  and 
even  then  are  deprived  of  the  refining  influences  of  home  as 
they  have  left  their  families  in  their  own  country.  They  are 
entirely  uneducated,  accustomed  to  very  different  kind  of  living, 
have  not  the  language  facility  of  those  who  have  lived  in  Con¬ 
stantinople,  and  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  enter  into  the  new 
life  about  them.  Those  who  gather  in  the  cities  are  as  a  rule 
planning  for  a  return  to  the  East.  They  purpose  to  remain 
here  long  enough  to  make  some  money,  or  secure  American 
citizenship,  and  then  to  go  back  to  their  homes.  A  few  come 
expecting  to  stay  and  become  loyal  American  citizens.  Such 
as  a  rule  find  a  cordial  welcome  and  make  a  good  impression. 
Two  things  must  be  remembered  :  the  Armenian  is  essen¬ 
tially  Oriental  in  his  character  and  the  true  Oriental  does  not 
adapt  himself  easily  or  speedily  to  American  life;  those  who 
know  the  race  most  widely  and  most  intimately  esteem  it  the 
most  highly. 

No  better  illustration  can  be  given  of  the  best  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  Armenian  character,  that  which  gives  hope  of 
their  ultimate  success  as  a  nation,  than  the  position  taken  by 
the  present  Armenian  Patriarch  in  Constantinople.  Mattheos 
Ismirlian  is  described  by  an  American  resident  in  Constanti¬ 
nople,  as  a  man  somewhat  above  medium  height,  thin  and  of 
dark  complexion,  but  with  strong,  resolute  face,  having  the 
large  features  characteristic  of  his  race.  He  was  born  in 
1845,  in  Constantinople,  and  received  the  name  Ismirlian  (the 
man  from  Smyrna,  Ismir,)  from  the  fact  that  his  grandfather 
was  originally  a  resident  of  that  city.  He  was  educated  in 
the  Armenian  schools,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  was  made 
deacon  of  the  Armenian  Church  in  one  of  the  Bosporus 
villages.  In  1869,  he  entered  the  celibate  college  and  was 


124 


PATRIARCH  MATTHEOS. 


ordained  as  arch-priest.  His  ability  and  industry  brought  him 
to  the  front,  and  he  was  elected  successively  secretary  to  the 
Patriarch,  member  of  the  assembly  of  the  community  and  a 
member  of  the  synod.  He  was  noted  as  a  preacher  and 
teacher,  simple,  direct  and  intense  in  his  style,  and  achieved  a 
high  reputation  throughout  the  nation.  He  was  also  rec¬ 
ognized  on  every  hand  as  a  man  of  unusual  soundness  of 
judgment  and  purity  of  motive.  Seven  years  later,  when 
only  thirty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  ordained  as  bishop  and 
was  promoted  rapidly.  In  1886,  he  was  made  leader  or 
director  of  the  parish  of  Egypt,  where  he  instituted  numer¬ 
ous  improvements,  and  his  service  was  so  efficient  as  to  bring 
for  him  decorations  from  King  Menelek,  of  Abyssinia,  and 
the  Sultan,  but  more  than  all,  the  devotion  of  his  own  people. 
After  five  years  of  service  he  returned  to  Constantinople  and 
soon  after,  when  there  became  necessary  the  election  of  a 
Catholicos,  his  name  was  prominent  among  the  candidates. 
He  refused  absolutely  to  make  any  effort  to  secure  this  prize, 
coveted  by  every  Armenian  bishop,  and  yet  his  name  ranked 
not  only  among  the  first  four  in  the  assembly,  but  on  the  sub¬ 
sequent  ballot  was  one  of  the  two  sent  to  the  Czar  for  selec¬ 
tion.  The  choice  fell  upon  Khrimian,  also  well  and  most 
favorably  known  throughout  the  nation,  but  it  placed  Ismirlian 
in  the  front  rank  for  further  honors. 

In  December  of  1894,  at  the  time  when  the  affairs  of  the 
nation  were  most  critical,  as  will  be  understood  from  the 
chapter  on  the  condition  in  1894,  the  one  sentiment  of  all 
was  in  favor  of  him,  but  the  question  arose  whether  the 
Sultan  would  favor  his  election.  He  was  well  known  as  a 
man  of  great  resoluteness  and  patriotism,  and  one  who  would 
never  yield  an  iota  of  what  he  felt  it  was  right  to  demand. 


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A  I  URKISH  VILLAGE  SHEIKH,  probably  connected  with  some  one  of 
the  Dervish  orders.  Many  of  them  are  men  of  great  intelligence  and  considerable 
force  of  character,  especially  those  who  are  the  chiefs  of  large  communities. 


LOYALTY  TO  HIS  NATION. 


127 


He  was  elected,  and  contrary  to  expectation,  that  election  was 
immediately  confirmed  by  the  Sultan.  From  that  time  on 
the  Patriarch  has  been  “  in  a  very  real  sense  the  champion 
of  his  people,  bearing  their  griefs  and  carrying  their  sorrows 
as  few  have  done,  in  an  office  that  has  been  filled  by  men  of 
conspicuous  consecration.”  Every  legal  means  in  his  power 
has  been  used  in  behalf  of  his  people,  and  threats  of  imprison¬ 
ment  or  of  death  have  accomplished  nothing.  Soon  after 
his  installation  he  sent  to  the  Minister  of  Justice  a  letter  ask¬ 
ing  power  to  appoint  new  bishops  in  places  where  the  bishops 
had  been  imprisoned  for  varying  periods.  The  reply  came 
that  the  statements  about  those  bishops  were  false,  and  their 
withdrawal  was  demanded.  The  Patriarch  answered,  “  The 
statements  are  true,  and  the  truth  I  cannot  withhold.”  From 
that  time  to  this  he  has  been  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the 
Turkish  Government;  neither  bribes,  flattery  nor  deception 
have  availed.  Loyal  to  the  Sultan,  his  loyalty  refuses  ser¬ 
vility,  as  is  instanced  in  his  statement  to  the  Sultan  in  his  first 
audience :  “As  far  as  my  conscience  permits  me  I  will  obey 
you,  but  at  the  same  time  I  must  look  to  the  welfare  of  my 
people.”  It  is  scarcely  surprising  that  the  Sultan  in  a  rage 
sent  him  away  and  omitted  the  customary  decoration.  A 
little  later,  realizing  his  power  with  the  people,  the  Sultan 
sent  for  him  and  offered  him  the  highest  decorations  that 
could  be  given  to  a  civilian  subject  in  the  empire.  The 
reply  came  as  follows : 

“Your  majesty,  what  have  I  to  do  with  such  things?  I  am 
a  simple  priest.  I  live  on  bread  and  olives,  as  do  my  people. 
I  have  no  place  in  my  house  for  such  gorgeous  things.  I 
pray  you,  do  not  ask  me  to  accept  them.” 

Another  illustration  of  his  boldness  and  firmness  is  found 

8 


128 


HIGH  COURAGE. 


in  the  following  statement,  made  to  his  people  in  the  installa< 
tion  service :  “  Before  God  and  in  presence  of  this  meeting,  I 
swear  to  remain  faithful  to  my  government  and  my  nation, 
and  to  watch  over  the  just  and  explicit  fulfilment  of  this  con¬ 
stitution  (the  constitution  granted  by  Abdul  Aziz).  My  un¬ 
derstanding  of  the  word  faithful  is  this:  faithfulness  involves 
on  the  side  of  the  government  protection  of  life  and  property. 
Without  this,  faithfulness  on  the  side  of  the  subject  is 
hypocrisy.” 

It  was  not  only  towards  the  government,  however,  that  the 
Patriarch  had  occasion  to  manifest  his  high  courage.  Recog¬ 
nizing  very  clearly  the  absurdities  of  the  revolutionist  move¬ 
ment,  he  steadily  refused  to  give  it  any  countenance  whatever, 
and  threats  were  numerous  on  the  part  of  the  disappointed 
Huntchagists  that  he  should  be  killed.  He  feared  this  no 
more  than  the  threats  of  the  government,  and  has  steadily  pur¬ 
sued  his  way,  holding  to  what  he  felt  to  be  right  and  best 
for  his  nation.  It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  such  a 
man  deserves  the  same  rank  accorded  to  the  great  leaders  of 
the  world,  and  a  nation  that  can  at  such  a  crisis  produce  such 
a  man  and  stand  by  him  is  a  nation  that  under  proper  train¬ 
ing,  and  with  favorable  circumstances,  may  be  expected  to 
develop  a  high  national  character. 

The  general  situation  of  the  Armenians  at  the  present  time 
is  one  that  calls  for  the  sympathy  of  the  entire  Christian 
world.  They  have  lost  a  large  proportion  of  their  best  men  by 
massacre ;  throughout  the  empire  it  has  seemed  to  be  the  un¬ 
wavering  purpose  of  the  Turkish  Government  to  cut  down 
the  very  men  who  had  most  influence,  and  who  most  used 
their  influence  in  behalf  of  good  citizenship  and  upright  life. 
The  most  conservative  estimates,  endorsed  by  the  British 


GENERAL  SITUATION. 


129 


Ambassador  at  Constantinople,  for  the  sections  where  there 
has  been  careful  investigation,  give  the  number  killed  at 
25,000,  and  admit  that  the  real  number  is  far  larger.  For  a 
nation  numbering  not  more  than  2,000,000  within  the  borders 
of  the  empire,  to  lose  probably  not  less  than  40,000  or  50,000 
of  its  best  men  is  a  terrible  thing,  and  the  loss  cannot  but 
have  a  serious  effect  upon  the  future  development.  This, 
however,  is  not  all.  Not  merely  have  these  lives  been  blotted 
out,  but  property  to  an  incalculable  degree  has  been  de¬ 
stroyed.  The  Armenian  nation  is  shorn  of  a  large  part  of  its 
strength ;  whether  there  is  enough  left  to  give  it  vigor  or 
power  for  the  immediate  future  remains  to  be  seen.  The  out¬ 
look  is  by  no  means  hopeful,  and  yet  seldom  in  the  history  of 
the  world  has  the  effort  to  blot  out  a  race  been  successful. 
Whatever  be  the  political  outcome,  as  set  forth  in  other 
chapters  of  this  book,  there  can  be  but  one  hope  for  all  those 
interested  in  the  Armenian  people,  and  that  is,  that  they  may 
by  this  terrible  experience  realize  their  weakness  and  unite 
their  strength  for  a  purer  and  truer  national  life  than  they 
have  had  at  any  time,  even  than  many  of  them  have  dreamed 
of.  This,  however,  will  depend  very  largely  upon  the  support 
accorded  to  them  by  the  Christian  nations  of  the  world.  If 
that  support  fails,  then  the  responsibility  rests,  not  alone  upon 
the  Armenians,  but  to  a  great  degree  upon  those  nations. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Greeks. 


Fidelity  of  the  Oriental  Churches — The  Apostle  Andrew— Concessions  by  Mohammed  II 
Gennadios  II— Suffering  and  Misery— Greek  Revolution— Growth  of  National  Spirit — 
Hellenes  or  Romaioi — Bulgarians  in  their  Relation  to  the  Greek  Church. 

TOO  much  honor  cannot  be  paid  to  those  Christians  of  the 
East,  whatever  their  church  connection,  who  have 
adhered  unswervingly  to  their  faith.  The  endurance  of  the 
Covenanters  and  Huguenots  and  Waldenses  casts  a  halo,  not 
only  upon  themselves,  but  upon  the  human  family.  It  ennobles 
the  race  that  any  members  of  it  were  capable  of  such  devotion. 
The  sufferings  of  the  Eastern  Christians  have  been  continuous, 
and  may  be  traced  back  by  a  chain,  wherein  there  are  no  miss¬ 
ing  links,  to  the  day  when  their  remote  progenitors  were  first 
compelled  to  bow  their  necks  under  the  foot  of  a  Moslem 
conqueror. 

Bondage,  inferiority,  contempt,  are  hard  and  demoralizing 
teachers.  Rapacity,  which  renders  labor  fruitless,  and  insolent 
terrorism,  which  multiplies  devices  to  make  its  victims  cringe, 
are  not  favorable  to  the  development  of  the  higher,  manlier 
traits,  either  in  an  individual  or  a  community.  Ignorant,  super¬ 
stitious,  untrustworthy,  the  Eastern  Christians  too  often  are. 
Nevertheless,  in  view  of  the  ceaseless,  wearing  ordeal  which 
(13°) 


GREEK  CHURCH. 


131 

they  have  undergone,  their  steadfastness  and  the  many  other 
virtues  they  do  possess  are  all  the  more  memorable  and  praise¬ 
worthy.  Would  we,  children  of  the  Pilgrim,  of  the  Cavalier, 
of  the  Maryland  Catholic  and  the  Pennsylvania  Quaker,  have 
endured  a  like  trial  any  better?  Dare  we  assert  that  we 
should  have  borne  it  as  well  ? 

In  that  group  of  churches  the  most  venerable  and  the  most 
pathetic  figure  of  all  is  the  Eastern  Orthodox,  or,  as  it  is  com¬ 
monly  called  in  foreign  countries,  Greek  Church.  According 
to  a  tradition,  so  attested  as  to  seem  authentic  history,  the  Apos¬ 
tle  Andrew  preached  Christianity  upon  the  Bosporus  within 
three  years  of  the  crucifixion.  Weaving  into  the  Sacred  story 
“  the  golden  woof-thread  of  romance,”  the  Byzantine  Christians 
loved  to  tell  that  the  Bosporus  reminded  the  Apostle  of  his 
native  Galilee,  and  that  the  first  company  which  met  to  hear 
him  was  made  up  of  fishermen  like  himself.  Here  he  re¬ 
mained  two  years  and  organized  a  church  and  consecrated 
Stachys,  the  “beloved  ”  of  St.  Paul,  first  Bishop  of  Byzantium. 
When  Constantine  transformed  Byzantium  into  Nova  Roma, 
and  made  her,  in  place  of  the  older  Rome,  capital  of  the 
world,  Metrophanes  I,  twentieth  in  Episcopal  line  from  Stachys, 
exchanged  his  humbler  title  of  bishop  for  the  more  resound¬ 
ing  appellation  of  Archbishop  of  Constantinople,  or  Ecumen¬ 
ical  Patriarch. 

The  Sees  of  Antioch,  Alexandria  and  Jerusalem,  though 
reckoned  Apostolic,  seemed  to  the  ordinary  eye  less  exalted 
than  the  ecclesiastical  thrones  on  the  Bosporus  and  the 
Tiber.  Between  these  two  pre-eminent  arose  unchurchly 
rivalries  and  factional  dissensions.  Antagonism  of  East  and 
West,  more  than  subtle  differences  of  creed,  were  to  tear 
them  asunder.  Alternately  separated  and  reunited,  in  1053 


OVERTHROW  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 


132 

the  definite,  final  division  came.  Then  was  rent  in  twain  what 
a  Greek  historian  calls  “  the  hitherto  seamless  garment  of 
the  undivided  church.”  The  cleavage  line  was  as  old  as 
history  and  by  a  meridian  of  longitude  accentuated  the  aliena¬ 
tion.  The  Latins  and  the  Teutons  were  in  one  party:  the 
Greeks  and  almost  all  the  Slavs  in  the  other. 

Around  the  Ecumenical  Patriarch  were  grouped  his  Oriental 
brethren  of  the  three  Apostolic  Sees.  Second  only  to  the 
Orthodox  Byzantine  Emperor  in  power  and  prominence,  and 
by  his  spiritual  functions  even  more  exalted  than  his  sovereign, 
the  Patriarch  was  the  most  awe-inspiring  personage  in  the 
state. 

In  1453  the  gradual  overthrow  of  the  empire  was  con¬ 
summated  by  the  fall  of  Constantinople  under  the  resistless 
attack  of  Sultan  Mohammed  II.  The  childless,  wifeless 
Constantine  XIII  was  killed  while  leading  the  defense.  The 
Patriarch  Athanasios  II,  a  faithful,  feeble  old  man,  disappeared 
and  his  after  fate  is  a  mystery.  The  former  inhabitants  of 
the  city  had  either  been  slain  in  battle  or  reduced  to  slavery, 
or  were  endeavoring  to  save  themselves  by  flight.  The  Sul¬ 
tan  was  not  only  a  mighty  warrior,  but  a  sagacious  statesman. 
He  realized  the  necessity  of  reassuring  the  vanquished  and 
calling  back  the  fugitives  and  re-populating  the  deserted  town, 
if  his  new  capital  was  to  be  anything  more  than  a  soldier  s 
camp.  So  he  endeavored  to  allay  the  terrors  of  the  Greeks 
and  to  treat  with  the  only  national  organization  which  re¬ 
mained.  The  empire  had  been  destroyed,  but  the  church 
still  lived. 

He  ordered  the  few  surviving  bishops  to  at  once  choose  a 
new  patriarch  with  all  old-time  formalities  and  without  change 
in  the  manner  of  election.  The  vacant  post  was  as  arduous 


SCHOLARIOS. 


133 


and  dangerous  as  it  was  eminent.  Doubtless  there  was  no 
desire  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  prelates  to  be  chosen.  The 
suffrages  fell  upon  the  austere  monk  George,  surnamed  the 
Scholarios.  The  Sultan  wished  the  same  ceremonial  of 
investiture  should  be  observed  as  in  happier  days  under  the 
emperors. 

When  Scholarios  was  sought  for,  he  could  nowhere  be 
found.  Up  to  the  conclusion  of  the  siege  he  had  been  a 
familiar  figure,  always  fiercely  declaiming  against  the  Roman 
Church  and  inspiring  whoever  heard  him  with  his  own  unyield¬ 
ing  fanaticism.  Several  months  of  constant  search  passed 
away,  during  which  the  church  continued  without  a  visible 
head.  At  last  he  was  discovered  on  the  farm  of  a  wealthy 
Ottoman  at  Adrianople.  Taken  prisonor  at  the  capture,  he 
had  been  sold  and  sent  there  as  a  slave.  Released  and 
informed  of  his  nomination,  the  change  in  his  condition  could 
have  appeared  to  him  only  as  a  change  in  the  form  of  his 
slavery.  A  tradition  asserts  that  the  Scholarios  in  his  youth 
had  been  ambitious  of  church  promotion  and  had  always  as¬ 
pired  to  the  primacy  of  the  East.  Now  that  it  was  thrust 
upon  him  by  a  sanguinary  and  suspicious  conqueror,  even 
his  stout  heart  may  well  have  shrunk  from  the  obligation. 

Proceeding  to  Constantinople,  he  was  received  with  kind¬ 
ness  and  honor  by  the  Sultan.  The  Cathedral  Church  of 
Sancta  Sophia  had  closed  its  more  than  a  thousand  years  of 
Christian  history  and  been  made  a  mosque.  The  church  of 
the  Holy  Apostles,  the  Saint  Denis  of  the  capital,  where  the 
emperors  from  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great  had  found 
a  mausoleum,  was  left  in  the  possession  of  the  Christians  and 
had  been  selected  as  their  chief  sanctuary.  There  the 


r34 


THE  SULTAN'S  GUARANTEES. 


Scholarios  was  consecrated  with  solemn,  imposing,  but 
melancholy  pomp  as  Patriarch  Gennadios  II. 

After  his  enthronement  he  was  entertained  by  Mohammed 
II  at  a  magnificent  banquet.  The  Sultan  bestowed  on  him 
a  richly  jewelled  sabre,  promised  him  his  protection  and 
friendship  and  on  his  departure  accompanied  him  to  the  outer 
door.  Ridinof  on  one  of  the  Sultan’s  war-horses,  wearing 
one  of  the  Sultan’s  robes,  attended  by  the  highest  of  the 
Sultan’s  officers,  he  proceeded  in  state  across  the  city  to  take 
possession  of  his  ecclesiastical  residence.  To  the  few  Greeks 
along  the  way,  who  cast  furtive  glances  at  their  Patriarch  and 
at  his  cortege,  every  detail  of  his  attire  and  appearance 
must  have  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  empire  was  no  longer 
theirs  and  that  their  haughty  church  like  themselves  was 
fettered  and  enslaved. 

Gennadios  bore  with  him  the  still  preserved  berat  or 
written  promise  of  the  sovereign,  which  guaranteed  certain 
immunities  and  religious  privileges  to  the  Christians.  It  was 
therein  declared  (i)  that  no  person  should  in  any  wise  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  ecclesiastical  rule  of  the  Patriarch  and  of  his 
successors,  (2)  that  the  Patriarch  and  all  the  bishops  should 
be  exempt  from  tribute,  (3)  that  the  churches,  not  already 
converted  into  mosques,  should  be  forever  retained  by  the 
Christians  in  peace  and  safety,  (4)  that  weddings,  baptisms, 
funerals  and  all  other  Christian  rites  and  ceremonies  should 
be  solemnized  freely  and  without  molestation,  (5)  that  the 
Christians  should  observe  Easter  and  all  other  religious  festi¬ 
vals  and  fasts  with  perfect  freedom  and  customary  splendor. 
These  promises  have  been  often  evaded  or  restricted,  and 
sometimes  enlarged.  Still  from  that  day  to  the  present  they 
have  been  as  well  kept  as  such  promises  usually  are,  when 


THE  MANY  PATRIARCHS. 


T35 


made  by  a  stronger  to  a  weaker  and  when  the  weaker  has  no 
means  of  enforcing  their  observance. 

The  responsibilities  and  trials  of  his  position  were  beyond 
the  physical  strength  of  Gennadios.  Sympathetic  and  warm¬ 
hearted  despite  his  asceticism,  the  daily  spectacle  of  the  suf¬ 
fering  and  misery  among  his  flock  overtaxed  his  endurance. 
Utterly  worn  out,  in  1459  he  laid  down  the  patriarchal  staff 
and  withdrew  to  a  monastery  in  Servia,  where  he  died  during 
the  following  year. 

Since  then,  in  the  space  of  437  years  the  throne  has  been 
occupied  by  just  100  different  patriarchs.  The  average  dura¬ 
tion  of  each  incumbency  has  been  a  little  over  four  years  and 
has  been  almost  invariably  filled  with  labor  and  sorrow.  The 
fate  of  the  Patriarch  Kyril  Loukaris,  whose  name  is  more 
familiar  in  the  West  than  that  of  almost  any  other  Eastern 
prelate,  differed  little  from  that  of  others  of  his  brethren. 
Slandered  and  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  government, 
deposed  by  order  of  the  Sultan  and  imprisoned  in  the  fortress 
of  Roumeli  Hissar  upon  the  Bosporus,  then  bowstrung  and 
his  remains  cast  into  the  strait,  he  trod  the  same  path  of 
ignominy  and  martyrdom  as  Parthenios  II,  Parthenios  III, 
Pai'sios  II  and  many  another  of  the  illustrious  line. 

The  last  to  meet  a  violent  death  at  the  hand  of  the  Mos¬ 
lems  was  the  saintly  Gregory  III,  in  1821.  The  Greek  re¬ 
volution  had  burst  forth  in  Moldavia  and  the  Peloponnesus. 
The  Ottomans  rose  in  a  frenzv  of  racre  and  terror,  furious  for 
victims.  The  Patriarch  and  his  clergy  at  Constantinople  had 
opposed  the  insurrection  and  could  in  no  wTay  be  accused  of 
complicity  with  the  Greek  revolutionists.  But  the  sanguin¬ 
ary  Ottoman  Government  and  populace  were  indifferent  as 
to  considerations  of  political  innocence  or  guilt,  and  eager 


X3D 


DEATH  OF  GREGORY  II. 


only  for  blood.  On  Easter  Sunday  the  Dragoman  or  Inter¬ 
preter  of  the  Porte  came  to  the  patriarchate  and  ordered  the 
Holy  Synod  to  assemble.  Then  he  communicated  the  com¬ 
mand  of  Sultan  Mahmud  II,  that  the  See  should  be  con¬ 
sidered  vacant  and  that  they  should  at  once  name  a  new 
Patriarch.  Meanwhile  the  aged  Gregory  was  hung  to  a 
beam  over  the  great  gate  in  front  of  his  residence  and  his 
shrinking  successor,  after  induction  into  his  office,  was  forced 
to  pass  in  formal  procession  close  to  the  still  warm  remains. 
The  reverent  Greeks  now  point  to  a  black  beam  in  the  arch¬ 
way  and  in  low,  awed  tones  repeat  the  story  of  the  tragedy. 

It  was  the  idea  of  Mohammed  II  that  Gennadios  should  not 
only  represent  his  coreligionists,  but  be  responsible  for  their 
tranquillity  and  submission.  After  each  race  riot  or  disturb¬ 
ance,  the  Patriarch  must  exculpate  not  only  the  participants 
of  disorder,  but  himself.  Most  perilous  was  the  honor  of 
induction  into  the  patriarchal  office  to  him  who  filled  it. 
Nevertheless  the  system  inaugurated  by  the  conqueror  was 
of  ultimate  advantage  in  almost  every  respect  to  the  non- 
Moslem  community. 

Under  Ottoman  domination  the  centre  of  the  Orthodox 
Eastern  Church  remained  at  the  same  strategic  centre,  where 
for  centuries  it  had  exercised  a  potent  force.  Jerusalem, 
Antioch,  Alexandria,  were  not  acquired  by  the  Ottoman 
Empire  for  more  than  half  a  century. 

When  the  patriarchs  of  those  cities,  whose  Sees  had  endured 
every  vicissitude  under  Saracens,  Kurds  and  Crusaders,  be¬ 
came  in  their  later  turn  subjects  of  the  Sultan,  they  found 
that  their  patriarchal  brother  on  the  Bosporus  was  already 
acknowledged  by  the  Greeks  all  through  the  Turkish  domin¬ 
ions  as  not  only  their  spiritual  father,  but  as,  next  to  the 


INFLUENCE  OF  NON-MOSLEM  AUTHORITY. 


*37 

Sultan,  their  civil  head.  The  time-honored  titles  of  their 
sacerdotai  rank  still  existed.  There  were  no  changes  in  the 
hierarchy  of  the  changeless  Church.  Yet  to  the  eye  of  the 
Moslem  and  practically  to  that  of  the  Greek,  there  was  hence¬ 
forth  but  one  Patriarch. 

The  official  recognition  of  a  non-Moslem  authority  as  in  a 
certain  degree  representative  of  a  nation  and  intermediary 
with  the  Sultan,  has  exercised  vast  influence  in  determining 
the  relations  oi  the  native  Christians  with  the  Porte.  It  was 
based  upon  religious  grounds,  but  speedily  extended  to  and 
included  civil  affairs.  It  was  a  natural  sequence  that  the 
course  pursued  with  the  Greeks  should  be  followed  in  dealing 
with  other  subject  peoples.  When,  after  the  conquest  of  the 
Crimea,  the  Armenian  residents  at  the  capital  increased,  Bishop 
Horaghim  was  summoned  from  Brusa  and  installed  Patriarch 
of  the  Armenians.  In  time  a  khakham  bashi  or  Grand  Rabbi 
was  thus  appointed  for  the  Jews,  a  patriarch  for  the  subject 
Roman  Catholics  and,  no  longer  ago  than  1850,  a  vekil  or 
representative  for  the  Protestants. 

One  result,  which  Mohammed  II  never  dreamed  of  and 
would  have  deplored,  was  inevitable  from  this  system.  By  it 
every  person  not  a  Moslem  was  bound  in  closer  intimacy  to 
the  fellow-members  of  his  own  distressed  community.  Each 
was  brought  moreover  into  a  closer  identification  of  himself 
and  his  interests  with  his  church.  Through  that  church  was 
to  be  obtained  not  only  salvation  in  the  future  life,  but  what¬ 
ever  alleviation  was  possible  in  the  present  existence.  The 
Ottomans  have  always  sought  to  extirpate  the  spirit  of 
nationality  or  of  any  common  feeling  among  the  conquered. 
They  have  welcomed  every  influence  which  would  apparently 
foster  divisions  and  produce  antagonistic  factions  among  those 


1 


DESIGN  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 


138 

whom  they  ruled.  Thus  they  judged  they  could  play  party 
against  party,  interest  against  interest,  and  render  each  sub¬ 
servient  and  pliable  to  their  own  control.  For  a  Mussulman 
to  change  his  faith  was,  till  within  half  a  century,  a  crime 
punishable  with  death.  But  they  rejoiced  at  and  favored  the 
labors  of  foreign  missionaries  among  such  of  their  subjects  as 
were  already  Christians,  thinking  that  thus  there  would  be  a 
multiplication  of  sects  and  a  larger  number  of  interests  to  set 
against  each  other. 

Through  the  system  inaugurated  by  the  Conqueror,  unwit¬ 
tingly  in  each  community  the  instinct  of  solidarity  was  kept 
alive  and  developed.  The  intensity  of  a  common  sentiment 
among  the  proscribed  was  fanned  to  a  hotter  glow.  Only 
during  the  last  century  have  the  rulers  recognized  their 
possible  mistake. 

The  Constitution,  craftily  devised  by  the  astute  Midhat 
Pasha  and  promulgated  in  the  name  of  Sultan  Abd-ul-Hamid  II 
in  1876,  was  designed  to  accomplish  two  results,  one  foreign 
and  one  domestic.  The  former  result  was  to  be  attained  in 
blinding  the  eyes  of  Europe  to  the  real  internal  condition  of 
the  empire.  The  latter  result  should  be  the  gradual  but 
entire  sweeping  away  of  a  policy  of  internal  administration 
which  was  intrenched  in  its  duration  of  over  four  hundred 
years.  The  scheme,  so  shrewdly  contrived  and  so  elaborate 
in  its  provisions,  utterly  failed.  Mussulmans  and  Christians 
alike  contemned  it.  Only  for  a  short  time  did  the  Sultan 
himself  observe  its  conditions.  It  accomplished  nothing 
beyond  the  creation  of  vexations  questions  between  the 
government  and  the  Greeks.  The  latter  perceived  that  their 
scanty  privileges  were  involved,  p'or  a  time  they  were  almost 
delirious  with  excitement  and  ready  to  resist  by  every  means 


NO  NATIONAL  FEELING. 


139 


at  their  command  the  abrogation  of  the  system.  The  diplo¬ 
matic  skill  of  the  Sultan  conjured  the  difficulty  and  the 
annoying  issues  were  forgotten. 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  feeling  of  nationality — as  we  un¬ 
derstand  the  word — was  practically  non-existent  among  the 
non-Moslems  except  the  Greeks.  With  them  it  was  always 
keenly  alive,  even  when  destitute  of  outward  expression. 
But  among  the  other  peoples  a  stranger  would  have  concluded 
that  that  sentiment,  so  mastering  to-day,  was  extinct.  Even 
forty  years  ago  politics  seemed  restricted,  not  only  by  neces¬ 
sity,  but  by  common  consent  and  preference,  to  ecclesiastical 
questions. 

In  European  Turkey  and  Asia  Minor,  almost  every  non- 
Moslem,  if  not  an  Armenian  or  a  Jew,  was  an  adherent  of  the 
Orthodox  Greek  Church  and  hence,  whatever  his  blood  and 
vernacular,  was  reckoned  and  denominated  a  Greek.  Up  to 
the  Greek  revolution,  every  communicant  of  that  church, 
whether  Servian,  Wallachian,  Moldavian,  Bulgarian,  Bosnian 
or  Orthodox  Albanian,  spoke  of  himself  as  such.  Further 
examination  would  have  revealed  that  these  foster  children 
of  the  church  founded  by  Saint  Andrew,  these  worshippers 
following  the  Byzantine  ritual,  recognized  a  broad  distinc¬ 
tion  between  themselves  and  the  real  Greeks.  But  a  com¬ 
munity  of  administrative  and  religious  interests  dwarfed 
so  small  considerations  as  those  of  language  and  race.  Each 
readily  accepted  the  label  which  circumstances  had  placed 
upon  him. 

The  Hellenes  or  Romaioi,  in  whom  the  traditional  pride  and 
ambition  through  all  their  deo-rading-  servitude  never  slum- 
bered,  rejoiced  in  this  state  of  things  which  was  to  their  political 
advantage,  and  did  their  utmost  to  expand  and  intensify  it. 


140 


Bulgaria’s  demands  resisted. 


With  a  lively  appreciation  of  the  past  and  an  ardent  anticipa¬ 
tion  of  the  future,  they  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  the 
Moslem  domination  should  be  swept  away,  and  all  the 
various  tribes  south  of  the  Danube  be  readily  absorbed  in 
a  resurrected  Byzantine  Empire. 

It  is  a  natural  fact  that  the  self-assertive  sense  of  io-nored 
nationality  was  first  manifested  in  an  ecclesiastical  phase. 
The  herald,  for  example,  of  the  rousing  of  Bulgaria  was  the 
universal  demand  among  that  people  that  the  bishops,  sent  to 
the  region  inhabited  by  them  between  the  Danube  and  the 
Balkans,  should  be  not  Hellenes  but  Bulgarians.  All  should 
receive  appointment  and  consecration  as  before  from  the 
Ecumenical  Patriarch,  but  it  was  fitting  that  they  should  be 
of  the  same  branch  of  the  human  family  as  the  flocks  to  which 
they  were  sent.  Every  detail  of  creed  and  ceremonial  was 
to  remain  unchanged.  If  the  course  hitherto  pursued  was 
followed,  each  new  bishop  on  arrival  in  his  diocese  was 
regarded  as  an  unwelcome  foreigner.  If  the  now  longed  for 
innovation  was  made,  he  would  be  hailed  as  one  of  their  own 
kith  and  kin,  from  whose  lips  they  would  listen  to  their  own 
tongue.  The  Patriarch  and  Holy  Synod  obstinately  resisted 
the  demand.  If  granted,  it  seemed  to  shatter  every  hope  of 
an  ultimately  to-be-restored  Greek  dominion.  Every  argu¬ 
ment,  which  ingenuity  could  suggest  or  which  superstition 
and  ignorance  might  heed,  was  devised  to  quiet  the  awakened 
aspiration.  In  the  gospel  there  was  neither  Greek  nor  Jew; 
therefore  it  made  no  difference  from  what  nationality  a  bishop 
was  chosen  ;  therefore  it  was  appropriate  that  all  the  bishops 
should  be  Greeks ! 

In  the  peculiar  medley  of  Eastern  affairs,  the  final  decision 
was  to  be  rendered  by  no  Christian  organization,  but  by  the 


ANATHEMATIZED. 


141 

Mussulman  Sultan.  After  months  of  delay  it  was  announced 
and  it  was  favorably  to  the  Bulgarians.  Forthwith  the  Bul¬ 
garians  were  anathematized  by  the  Holy  Synod,  not  for  any 
error  of  doctrine  or  depravity  of  life,  but  on  account  of  ecclesi¬ 
astical  insubordination.  Lo,  though  Orthodox  on  every 
point,  holding  in  all  its  minutiae  the  Orthodox  creed,  theirs  is 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Greeks  a  Schismatic  Church.  It  is  how¬ 
ever  in  full  communion  and  paternal  fellowship  with  the 
Orthodox  Church  of  Russia.  The  position  of  the  Bulgarian 
Church  is  in  other  respects  anomalous.  Its  spiritual  head  or 
exarch  is  confirmed  by  the  Sultan  and  resides  not  in  Bulgaria, 
but  in  Constantinople,  where  there  are  almost  no  Bulgarians, 
and  near  the  palace  of  the  Sultan. 

Gradually  during  the  century,  territories  have  been  lopped 
off  from  the  Ottoman  Empire  and  erected  into  sovereign 
states.  Such  are  Greece,  Rumania  and  Servia.  Montenegro 
mig-ht  be  reckoned  in  the  number,  save  that  the  heroic  hand 
of  mountaineers,  which  lives  in  her  restricted  limits,  never 
acknowledged  subjection.  As  political  independence  was 
achieved,  there  was  a  galling  impropriety  in  the  fact  that  a 
people,  politically  free,  should  bow  to  the  ecclesiastical  control 
of  a  religious  organization  over  which  the  Sultan  was  master. 
So  naturally  and  without  shock  have  arisen  churches  autono¬ 
mous,  but  revering  the  Ecumenical  Patriarch  as  in  rank  and 
functions  superior  to  any  other  prelate. 

As  the  Ottoman  Empire  shrinks  and  outlying  provinces 
drop  away  or  are  absorbed  by  neighboring  states,  the  direct 
jurisdiction  of  the  Orthodox  Church  of  Constantinople  is 
circumscribed  in  equal  degree,  but  her  indirect  influence 
knows  no  diminution  or  change.  Her  long-bearded,  black- 
robed  clergy  are  the  most  imposing  priestly  body  in  the 


142 


GLORY  IN  THEIR  FAITH. 


world.  An  assembly  of  her  bishops  transports  the  stranger 
to  the  early  Christian  centuries  with  their  hoary  titles  of  Nice 
and  Nicomedia  and  Chalkedon  and  Ephesus.  Her  formal  wor¬ 
ship  is  the  most  elaborate  rendered  in  the  name  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  The  devotion  of  her  sons  and  daughters  has  crown 
the  stronger  in  their  common  humiliation  and  distress.  The 
active,  tumultuous  West  may  reproach  her  as  unprogressive 
and  inactive  and  lifeless.  But  her  children  glory  in  her  and 
the  Christian  world  may  glory  in  her,  as  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  gloried  in  the  Thessalonian  Church,  for  the  patience 

and  the  faith  in  all  the  persecutions  and  the  tribulations  which 
she  endured. 


THE  CITY  OF  BRUSA.  Mount  Olympus  in  the  background.  In  the  foreground  is  an  old  khan  and  just 
behind  it  the  mosque  in  which  are  buried  the  two  first  Sultans  of  the  present  dynasty,  Othman  and  Orchan.  This  mosque 
is  held  in  special  reverence  by  the  Turks. 


LAND  WALLS  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  They  extend  for  about  four  miles  from  the  Marmora  to  the  Golden 
Horn,  and  are  now  to  a  considerable  degree  in  a  ruined  condition.  The  gardens  in  the  foreground  occupy  the  ancient  moat. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


OTHER  ORIENTAL  CHURCHES. 


The  Syrian  Church  Divided  into  Syrians,  Chaldeans,  Nestorians,  Jacobites,  and  some 
Roman  Catholic  Bodies — The  Jacobites — Patriarch  of  Antioch — Condition  of  Villagers 
— Jebel  Tur  Region — Nestorians — Patriarch  of  Babylon — Badir  Khan  Bey — Chal¬ 
deans — The  Copts  of  Egypt — Maronites  and  Druzes. 

IN  the  provinces  of  Mesopotamia  and  Kurdistan  in  Eastern 
Turkey  we  meet  with  comparatively  few  Armenians  or 
Greeks,  but  large  communities  of  Syrian  Christians  are  nu¬ 
merous.  The  Church  of  Syria  is  the  oldest  of  all  the  churches 
founded  among  the  Gentiles.  It  was  for  centuries  renowned 
for  its  theologians,  its  schools  of  learning,  and  for  its  activity 
in  spreading  the  Gospel  into  the  remote  empires  of  Asia. 
The  remnants  of  it  which  are  found  to-day  in  Eastern  Turkey 
are  but  melancholy  wrecks  of  a  church  once  so  flourishing 
and  aggressive.  Like  battered  hulks  on  an  unfriendly  shore, 
they  bear  witness  to  the  fierce  storms  which  have  overtaken 
them  in  the  progress  of  time  ;  storms  now  of  internal  dissen¬ 
sions,  now  of  violent  theological  controversies,  and  now  of 
cruel  persecutions  and  decimating  international  wars.  Here 
on  these  fields  of  once  great  ecclesiastical  activity  have  met 
in  protracted  struggle  for  supremacy  Roman  and  Persian 
legions  ;  here  Mongols  and  Tartars  have  enacted  terrible 

(us) 


9 


146 


NUMEROUS  DIVISIONS. 


scenes  of  massacre;  Saracens  and  Kurds  too  have  swept  over 
the  land,  leaving  wasting  and  destruction  in  their  paths,  and 
here  now,  in  later  centuries,  the  Turk  has  set  his  terrible  iron 
heel,  as  if  to  crush  out  the  feeble  remnant  of  the  Christian 
name  altogether. 

o 

The  numerous  divisions  into  which  this  famous  church  is 
now  disintegrated  is  as  much  a  cause  for  lament  as  is  its 
prostrate  state  under  its  conquerors.  Syrians,  Chaldeans, 
Nestorians,  Jacobites,  Syrian  Papists,  are  names  of  separate 
and,  in  a  degree,  antagonistic  bodies  which  the  traveler  meets 
at  different  points  as  he  journeys  from  Aleppo  to  the  Persian 
boundary.  Each  sect  owns  allegiance  to  some  chief  bishop 
or  Patriarch  of  its  own,  each  holding  a  different  creed  or 
ritual,  and  there  is  no  intercommunion  between  any  of  them. 
The  Patriarch  of  the  Jacobites  is  resident  at  Mardin,  of  the 
Chaldeans  at  Mosul,  of  the  Nestorians  still  farther  east  in 
the  heart  of  the  Kurdish  Mountains.  Zealous  though  these 
all  are  for  their  inherited  creed  and  ritual,  the  form  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  we  meet  among  them  is  by  no  means  an  ideal  one. 
The  ancestral  organization  remains.  Rites  and  ceremonies 
as  handed  down  from  the  early  fathers  are  observed  with  a 
blind  superstitiousness.  There  is  a  staunch  grim  loyalty  to 
the  Christian  name,  in  the  face  even  of  much  persecution  for 
the  name’s  sake.  But  traces  of  genuine  spiritual  life  are  rarely 
to  be  found  among  them.  Their  ancient  missionary  zeal, 
which  carried  their  priests  and  bishops  throughout  Persia, 
Tartary  and  into  China,  has  long  since  given  way  to  a  night 
of  stolid  indifference  as  to  the  spiritual  fate  of  even  their 
nearest  neighbors.  The  struggle  for  self-preservation  taxes 
to  its  absolute  limit  all  their  present  religious  ambition.  And 
when  we  turn  to  find,  if  may  be,  some  evidence  that  their  ancient 


THE  JACOBITES. 


IT  7 

learning  may  have  survived  the  catastrophe  that  has  extin¬ 
guished  all  but  a  name  to  live,  we  discover  that,  too,  has 
perished  with  the  rest.  Their  language,  once  aglow  with 
devotion  and  religious  thought,  is  long  since  dead.  Their 
clergy  are  sunk  in  deepest  ignorance.  The  Syrian  fathers 
were  eminent  as  authors  of  commentaries  and  hymns,  gram¬ 
mars  and  lexicons,  but  the  highest  attainment  of  a  modern 
scholar  among  them  is  to  be  a  good  copyist  of  the  old  books 
and  to  repeat  the  vocabularies  and  grammars  of  the  mediaeval 
times  with  slavish  devotion  to  all  their  oddities  and  errors. 

But  each  of  these  particular  bodies  has  a  history  and  con¬ 
ditions  peculiar  to  itself  that  deserve  a  separate  consideration. 

The  Jacobites  cling  proudly  to  their  ancient  name  of 
Syrians  (“  Syriani  ’ )  as  we  shall  see  do  also  the  Nestorians. 
But  both  have  become  better  known  by  the  names  derived 
from  their  great  theological  leaders.  The  Jacobites  are  so 
called  from  Jacobus  Baradeus,  a  monk,  who  in  the  sixth 
century  checked  the  tide  of  desolation  caused  by  the  Emperor 
Justinian’s  persecutions,  revived  their  declining  church,  and, 
with  almost  incredible  zeal,  spread  the  faith  throughout  Syria 
and  Mesopotamia.  He  established  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch 
as  their  supreme  head,  who  styles  himself  to  this  day  as  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter.  Their  attachment  is  strong  to  the 
belief  that  theirs  is  the  ancient  Church  of  Antioch  where  the 
followers  of  Christ  were  first  called  Christians.  As  there  are 
two  other  Patriarchs,  of  the  Greek  faith,  who  make  the  same 
claim,  there  are  no  less  than  three  prelates  who  bear  this  title, 
“  Patriarch  of  Antioch.” 

The  Jacobites  hold  to  what  is  known  as  Monophysite 
doctrine,  the  oneness  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in 
Christ. 


148 


ANCIENT  GLORY. 


They  have  been  estimated  as  some  250,000  souls  in  num¬ 
ber,  but  it  is  far  too  large  a  calculation.  Turkish  statistics, 
however,  are  of  no  practical  value  for  correctness.  Their 
chief  centres  of  population  are  Mardin,  Diarbekir,  Aleppo, 
Urfa,  Jezireh,  Mosul,  and  a  district  in  the  western  mountains 
of  Kurdistan,  named  Jebel  Tur.  In  their  common  speech  * 
they  use  the  Arabic,  the  language  of  their  Moslem  con¬ 
querors,  but  in  their  church  services  they  adhere  to  their 
much  revered  ancient  Syriac  tongue.  The  church  books 
are  of  distinguished  origin  and  of  venerable  date. 

In  the  height  of  their  ancient  glory  the  Jacobite  Church 
embraced  159  bishoprics.  Now,  there  are  scarcely  a  score. 

It  once  boasted  of  twenty-one  monasteries.  Of  these  but 
two  are  even  occupied  so  far  as  is  known.  It  is  in  one  of 
these,  the  monastery  of  Zafaran,  near  the  city  of  Mardin, 
where  the  Patriarch  of  the  Jacobites  has  his  residence. 
Here,  perched  high  upon  the  rocks  in  a  most  commanding 
position,  surrounded  at  a  distance  by  lofty  and  precipitous 
crags,  and  near  at  hand  by  hillsides  covered  with  vineyards, 
orchards  and  gardens,  has  been  the  patriarchal  abode  for 
some  eleven  centuries,  except  for  two  brief  periods  when  the 
Kurds  have  seized  it  for  uses  of  their  own.  The  late  Pa¬ 
triarch  had  visited  England  in  recent  years  and  through 
assistance  received  he  restored  a  part  of  the  famous  old 
monastery  and  enlarged  it,  and  had  established  a  fine  print¬ 
ing  press,  which  the  Turks,  however,  did  not  allow  him  to  use. 

The  support  of  the  monastery,  with  its  score  or  two  of 
monks,  comes  in  part  from  their  own  fields,  in  the  cultivation 
of  which  the  clergy  of  the  church,  and  the  Patriarch  himself, 
take  an  active  share,  and  in  part  from  contributions  of  the  vil¬ 
lages  lying  between  Mardin  and  Jezireh. 


SPIRITUAL  APATHY. 


149 

The  Patriarch  is  recognized  by  the  Turkish  authorities  as 
having  the  right  to  exercise  a  measure  of  control  in  the  civil 
affairs  of  his  spiritual  subjects.  His  people  at  least  look  up 
to  him  as  their  spokesman  in  time  of  trouble  from  the  gov¬ 
ernment,  and  he  is  expected  to  act  as  mediator  between  the 
two.  The  bishops  of  the  church  in  their  respective  localities 
are  also  allowed  something  of  the  same  authority.  But  they 
are  a  broken  reed  to  lean  upon  as  against  the  organized  op¬ 
pression  practised  under  Osmanli  rule.  They  are,  indeed, 
themselves  often  the  victims  of  the  same  relentless  bondage. 
The  very  manhood  of  this  once  noble,  energetic  race,  is  well- 
nigh  crushed  out  of  them  by  the  contumely  and  oppression  to 
which  they  have  been  subject  for  centuries.  The  pity  of  a 
Western  visitor  mantles  his  face  with  a  blush  as  he  witnesses 
the  cringing  demeanor  of  these  Syrian  dignitaries  of  the 
Church  in  the  presence  of  some  Mohammedan  lord,  even  when 
for  the  nonce  the  Pasha  or  Agha  may  treat  them  with  cour¬ 
tesy  and  kindness.  Yet  in  the  presence  of  sympathizing 
Christians  from  Europe,  it  is  surprising  to  note  the  manly, 
dignified  bearing  of  these  same  men.  When  we  come 
down  to  the  common  villagers,  their  condition  is,  as 
we  might  expect,  pitiable  in  the  extreme.  Their  moral 
and  spiritual  apathy  is  painful  to  observe,  and  added  to 
this  is  their  extreme  industrial  and  financial  distress,  charge¬ 
able  to  successive  famines  and  a  pitiless  government.  In  their 
times  of  greatest  want  and  desperation,  the  government 
never  diminishes  aught  of  its  exactions.  Pharaoh’s  demand 
of  the  same  tale  of  bricks  without  straw  is  repeated  over  and 
over  again.  It  would  seem  at  times  as  if  the  rulers  had  entered 
upon  a  settled  policy  to  stamp  out  the  entire  Christian  element 
of  the  population.  In  evidence  of  this  we  might  cite  the  obser- 


THE  AGHAS. 


*5° 

vations  of  recent  very  intelligent  travelers  through  Mesopota¬ 
mia.  One  speaks  of  passing  through  a  number  of  ruined  vil¬ 
lages  that  showed  how  the  process  of  depopulation  had  been 
carried  on.  The  large  stones  in  their  buildings,  the  remains  of 
well-built  churches,  and  the  large  tracts  of  land  that  had  once 
been  terraced  for  vineyards,  gave  evidence  of  former  thrift 
and  prosperity.  The  legitimate  taxes  alone  are  exceedingly 
heavy,  but  they  are  often  duplicated,  or  back  taxes  are 
claimed.  All  these  additional  burdens,  with  and  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  central  authorities,  are  laid  upon  the  people, 
driving  them  almost  to  distraction.  Abuses  through  unjust 
and  corrupt  assessment,  extortion  in  collection,  farming  out 
the  taxes,  and  the  demands  of  petty  landlords  and  soldiers, 
simply  defy  description.  The  people  are  largely  in  the  hands 
of  Aghas.  These  are  the  remnant  of  the  feudal  system  of 
Turkey,  descendants  of  the  feudal  lords,  who  became  propri¬ 
etors  of  the  soil  by  virtue  of  a  grant  from  the  Sultan.  The 
proprietorship  has  ceased,  but  the  Aghas  have  their  retainers, 
and  exercise  lordship  over  the  people  by  force  of  arms. 
Each  village  is  obliged  to  choose  its  Agha,  and  it  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  receive  protection  from  him.  But  it  is  like  setting  a 
wolf  to  guard  the  sheep. 

The  Jebel  Tur  region,  of  which  Midyat  is  the  chief  town, 
has  long  been  the  stronghold  of  the  Jacobite  Church.  It  is 
now  gradually  dying  out  under  the  crushing  process  practised 
by  the  Turkish  authorities.  To  one  familiar  with  the  history 
of  the  place  in  the  past  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  the 
change  that  is  going  on  is  distressingly  apparent.  Not  only 
are  mortgages  upon  fields  and  vineyards  on  the  increase,  but 
there  is  a  decrease  of  stock  with  which  to  work  them.  The 
area  of  uncultivated  land  around  the  villages  enlarges,  and  the 


NESTORIANS. 


151 

number  of  unkempt  vineyards  multiplies.  Further  marks  of 
the  business  stagnation  are  seen  in  the  dress  of  the  people, 
and  in  the  declining  scale  and  style  of  living  among  all  classes 
of  the  population.  And  if  other  evidence  is  asked  for,  it  is  found 
in  the  considerable  numbers  of  families  who  have  been  obliged 
to  go  elsewhere  in  search  of  a  living.  The  town  of  Sert  fur- 
nished  striking  illustrations  of  this  process,  even  before  the 
massacre  in  1850. 

Thus  we  find  repeated  in  the  social  and  industrial  conditions 
of  this  ancient  Jacobite  community  the  same  proofs  we  have 
seen  to  prevail  elsewhere  throughout  the  empire,  of  the  utter 
indifference  of  the  Turkish  Government  to  the  well-being  of 
its  Christian  subjects,  if  not  of  its  covert  intentions  to  gradu¬ 
ally  efface  them  from  off  the  land. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  other  large  division  of  the  Syrian 
Church,  known  as  Nestorians.  They  are  sometimes  spoken 
of  as  “  Chaldeans,”  and  again  as  “Assyrians.”  But  for 
neither  of  these  names  does  there  exist  any  sufficient  warrant 
either  on  historical  or  geographical  grounds.  They  recog¬ 
nize  no  appellation  for  themselves  except  “  Syriani.”  Their 
chief  bishop  claims  for  himself  the  title  of  “  Patriarch  ol  the 
East.”  But  they  will  always  be  best  known  to  the  world  as 
“  Nestorians.” 

When  Nestorius,  from  Antioch,  being  Bishop  of  Constan¬ 
tinople,  was  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  in  the 
year  a.  d.  431,  for  his  alleged  heretical  opinions  regarding  the 
Person  of  Christ,  the  “  Church  of  the  East,”  with  its  head¬ 
quarters  at  Seleucia-Ctesiphon,  warmly  espoused  his  cause. 
They  were  consequently  cut  off  from  communion  with  the 
Western  Church.  Located  so  far  to  the  East,  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  persecuting  acts  of  the  Byzantine  powers,  they 


*5* 


TAMERLANE. 


enjoyed  unusual  liberty,  and  used  it  with  enthusiasm  to  extend 
their  faith  at  home  and  in  remote  lands.  The  growth  of  their 
church  is  one  of  the  brightest  and  most  interesting  chapters 
in  the  annals  of  Christianity.  By  its  wonderful  missionary 
enterprises  churches  were  planted  from  Egypt  to  China,  and 
irom  north  of  the  Caspian  Sea  to  the  southern  bounds  of  India. 
The  flourishing  church  in  Persia  was  of  their  founding.  It  is 
admitted  that  they  were  the  most  numerous  body  of  any  of  the 
then  existing  Christian  churches.  Nor  were  they  conspicuous 
for  their  missionary  zeal  alone.  Their  schools,  where  Biblical 
theology  and  medicine  were  taught,  were  famed  throughout 
Christendom.  And  when  the  Arabs  became  the  patrons  of 
science  and  learning,  these  Nestorian  scholars  opened  to  them 
the  lore  of  the  Greeks,  and  were  allowed  positions  of  honor 
and  influence  at  the  courts  of  Haroun  A1  Rashid  and  other 
Caliphs,  at  Bagdad.  Under  the  Persian  and  Mongol  rulers, 
this  church,  eminent  as  well  for  its  liberality  of  opinion  and 
catholicity  of  spirit,  as  its  aggressive  efforts,  continued  to 
flourish,  despite  seasons  of  severe  persecution.  But  towards 
the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  a  terrible  storm  burst  upon 
it.  It  was  then  that  Timour,  or  Tamerlane,  emerged  from 
the  far  East,  and  swept  the  lands  occupied  by  these  Syrian 
churches  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction.  His  Mohammedan 
zeal  added  fury  to  his  inhuman  efforts  to  exterminate  every 
trace  of  the  Christian  faith.  He  was  far  too  successful. 

The  Patriarchal  seat  was  removed  from  place  to  place  in 
quest  of  a  safe  retreat.  It  is  probable  that  about  this  time,  in 
consequence  of  these  desolating  conditions,  large  numbers 
of  these  Christians  found  refuge  from  the  tempest  in  the  se¬ 
cluded  fastnesses  of  the  inhospitable  mountains  of  Kurdistan, 
where  they  still  dwell.  A  considerable  portion  of  this  people 


i  i  < 


PATRIARCH  OF  BABYLON. 


*53 


are  still  found  in  Persia.  The  whole  number  in  Turkey  and 
Persia  is  probably  about  100,000. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  there  arose  unfortunately  a  schism 
in  the  church,  resulting  in  the  establishment  of  two  Patriarchs, 
both  holding  to  the  same  creed.  One  of  these  made  Mosul 
his  residence.  In  recent  years  a  large  body  of  this  section  of 
the  Nestorian  Church  has  conformed  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  is  known  as  the  “  Uniat  Chaldean  Church,”  under 
a  Patriarch,  called  the  “  Patriarch  of  Babylon.”  But  in  the 
earlier  division  mentioned,  the  larger  portion  of  the  Nesto- 
rians  living  in  Kurdistan  and  Northwest  Persia,  accepted  the 
Patriarch  Mar  Shimun  as  their  head,  who  established  his  resi¬ 
dence  in  an  Alpine  village,  among  the  Kurdish  mountains. 
His  successors  always  take  the  same  dynastic  name  of  Mar 
Shimun,  and  for  nearly  four  hundred  years  have  made  their 
home  among  these  lofty  crags  and  precipitous  ravines.  Where 
the  valleys  broaden  out  into  wilder  areas,  the  various  tribes 
have  built  their  villages,  and  through  the  centuries  have  main¬ 
tained  their  national  existence  and  their  ancient  faith  at  seri¬ 
ous  odds  as  against  their  neighbors  and  foes.  The  most  im¬ 
portant  of  these  villages  are  Tiari,  Tkhoma,  Jelu,  Bas  and 
Dis.  These  Christian  mountaineers  are  called  “Ashiret,”  or 
tribal  Syrians,  while  those  living  outside  the  mountains  proper 
are  called  “Rayahs,”  or  “  Rayats,”  subjects.  The  Ashiret  are 
semi-independent,  and  pay  only  a  nominal  tribute  to  the 
Turkish  Government.  The  Rayahs  are  the  prey  of  Turkish 
despoilers  and  Turkish  exactors  to  a  degree  that  makes  life 
miserable.  That  the  Turkish  Government  is  either  unable  or 
indisposed  to  afford  them  protection  from  the  Kurds  is  the 
substantial  ground  on  which  the  Ashiret  refuse  submission  to 
the  constitutional  authorities.  The  practical  serfdom  of  their 


KURDISH  LANDLORDS. 


154 

Rayah  brethren  is  before  their  eyes  every  time  they  step  out 
on  the  hills  and  plains.  They  are  largely  in  the  hands  of 
the  Kurdish  landlords,  or  Aghas,  as  are  the  Syrian  Christians 
of  Jebel  Tur,  already  described.  They  are  taxed  to  the  star¬ 
vation  point.  Their  houses  are  miserable  quarters  for  human 
habitations.  They  are  mercilessly  robbed  and  even  murdered 
by  the  Kurds.  Appeal  to  the  government  officials  is  seldom 
of  avail ;  for  these  are  either  Kurds  themselves  or  are  sur¬ 
rounded  by  Kurdish  gentry,  once  themselves  the  rulers  of  the 
country,  whom  it  is  the  government’s  policy  to  placate  now, 
as  much  as  possible.  Quite  in  contrast  is  the  independence 
of  the  Ashiret,  under  their  Maleks,  or  chiefs.^  They  always 
cro  armed,  are  bold  and  warlike,  and  no  Turkish  officials  or 
soldiers  enter  their  tribal  districts  except  with  their  consent. 

Though  possessing  only  the  old-fashioned  flint  locks,  they 
are  often  a  match  for  the  Kurds,  who  are  armed  generally 
with  Martini-Henry  rifles.  Yet  it  is  only  by  the  most  fierce 
defense  of  themselves  that  they  have  maintained  their  free¬ 
dom  against  the  sanguinary  Kurds.  And  it  is  not  strange 
that  they  sometimes  betray  the  same  wild  traits  of  character 
as  their  hereditary  enemies.  But  despite  their  desperate 
stand  for  freedom  and  the  fear  in  which  the  Kurds  regard 
them,  they  have  suffered  terrible  assaults,  which  threatened 
at  the  time  to  utterly  exterminate  them.  Such  was  the  case 
in  the  terrible  massacres  perpetrated  on  them  by  the  blood¬ 
thirsty  Kurdish  Chief,  Badir  Khan  Bey,  in  1843.  By  bringing 
an  overwhelming  force  successfully  against  Tiari  and  Tkhoma 
he  succeeded  in  almost  annihilating  their  populations.  Layard, 
the  British  explorer  of  Nineveh,  and  subsequently  Minister 
and  Statesman,  who  was  in  the  mountains  both  before  and 
after  these  occurrences,  has  described  the  inhuman  slaughter 


CRUELTIES  OF  KURDISH  CHIEFS. 


*55 


of  the  people  of  Tiarl  and  Tkhoma  in  their  homes,  and  the 
destruction  of  their  churches  and  sacred  books.  In  Tiari, 
after  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  a  crowd  of  assembled 
fugitives,  tired  of  butchering,  and  knee-deep  in  blood  and 
mangled  carcasses,  the  Kurds  forced  the  survivors  at  the 
point  of  the  dagger  to  leap  down  a  precipice  on  the  rocks 
below.  Not  less  than  a  thousand  persons  here  perished. 
Mr.  Layard  visited  the  fatal  spot  in  1846  and  described,  with 
graphic  pen,  the  terrible  evidences  still  remaining  of  the 
awful  transaction.  The  patriarchal  residence  in  Dis  was  also 
sacked  and  the  blood  of  nearly  eight  hundred,  of  both  sexes, 
stained  its  valleys.  The  leading  men  were  assassinated  at  a 
council  to  which  they  were  invited  to  settle  terms  of  peace. 
The  Patriarch  himself  had  escaped  beforehand,  but  his  aged 
mother  was  slain  and  her  mangled  body  dragged  to  the  river 
Zab,  her  murderers  exclaiming  as  they  threw  it  in,  “Go,  carry 
the  news  to  your  accursed  son.” 

The  story  of  the  cruelties  of  the  Kurdish  Chiefs  of  those 
days  will  never  perish  from  the  legends  of  the  Nestorians. 
It  should  be  said,  that  under  the  pressure  from  the  European 
Government  the  Turks  sent  a  force  against  Badir  Khan  Bey, 
and  he  was  captured,  but  the  only  punishment  inflicted  on 
him  was  banishment  to  the  Island  of  Candia.  There  can  be 
little  doubt,  however,  that  the  Kurds  were  encouraged  by  the 
Turks  in  their  nefarious  job,  with  a  view  to  the  subjugation  of 
these  Independent  Christians. 

Every  few  years  since  these  events,  there  have  been  rea¬ 
sons  to  fear  a  repetition  of  the  Kurdish  atrocities  perpetrated 
by  Badir  Khan  Bey  and  his  fellow-fiends.  In  July,  1888,  one 
of  the  summer  encampments  of  the  Tiarians,  occupied  chiefly 
by  the  women  to  care  for  the  products  of  their  flocks,  while 


DANGERS  AND  SUFFERINGS. 


156 

the  men  are  engaged  in  their  little  fields  in  the  valleys  below, 
was  overpowered  by  a  band  of  Kurds,  who  killed  the  few 
men  at  hand  and  outraged  the  women.  The  Christians  were 
desperate  for  revenge.  But  a  force  of  8,000  Kurds  promptly 
assembling,  there  was  imminent  danger  of  their  falling  upon 
the  Christians  in  a  general  massacre.  Speedy  representa¬ 
tions  through  the  English  and  American  missionaries  led  to 
energetic  action  on  the  part  of  the  foreign  Consuls  which 
compelled  the  Turks  to  force  the  Kurds  to  retire. 

But  in  the  absence  of  any  such  general  outbreak  of  Turkish 
fanaticism  and  outrage,  the  oppressions  of  the  Christians 
whenever  in  the  least  exposed  to  their  enemies  are  of  inces¬ 
sant  occurrence.  The  Patriarch,  Mar  Shimun,  wears  a  sad, 
weary  countenance,  as  the  tales  of  wrong  and  injustice  prac¬ 
tised  on  his  people  are  daily  poured  into  his  ear.  Robberies, 
outrages  and  murders  are  on  the  increase  ;  the  bishops  and 
chiefs,  and  even  the  Patriarch  and  his  family,  are  continually 
exposed  to  insults  and  indignities  at  the  hands  of  Kurdish 
chiefs.  It  is  no  great  wonder  that  he  believes,  as  most  of  the 
Kurds  confess  to  believing,  and  observant  travelers  are  com¬ 
pelled  to  the  same  conclusion,  that  the  policy  of  the  Porte  is 
to  allow  the  Christians  to  be  impoverished  and  exterminated 
by  the  Kurds,  provided  that  this  is  done  so  covertly  that 
European  nations  shall  not  be  aware  of  it. 

The  Patriarch’s  appeals  for  some  sort  of  protection  for  his 
distressed  people,  which  come  to  the  ears  of  American  and 
English  friends,  are  truly  affecting.  And  yet,  even  to  these 
he  scarcely  dares  to  speak  his  mind  fully.  He  receives  a 
stipend  from  the  Porte.  The  Turkish  officials  near  him,  at 
Van  and  Julamerk,  keep  a  sharp  watch  over  all  he  does.  So, 
when  his  most  trusted  friends  from  Christian  lands  visit  him, 


CHALDEANS. 


*57 


he  speaks  to  them  in  bated  breath,  and  glares  around  in  fear 
lest  somehow  what  he  may  say  shall  reach  the  ears  of  his  sus¬ 
picious  guardians,  and  the  charge  of  treason  be  brought 
against  him.  Can  any  one  imagine  a  more  pitiable  position 
for  the  head  of  this  once  renowned  and  widespread  branch 
of  the  Christian  Church  ? 

The  Syrians  on  the  plain  of  Mosul  are  known  as  “Chal¬ 
deans,”  whether  the  larger  body  of  them,  who  have  conformed 
to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  are  under  the  spiritual  jurisdic¬ 
tion  of  the  so-called  “  Patriarch  of  Babylon,”  or  the  feebler 
community  under  the  Bishop  Mar  Elias  Melus,  who  have 
strenuously  resisted  union  with  the  Romish  Church.  The 
Chaldeans  in  the  city  of  Mosul  are  many  of  them  merchants, 
fairly  prosperous,  as  things  go  in  that  part  of  Turkey.  The 
Rassam  family,  distinguished  in  the  English  explorations  at 
Nineveh,  are  Mosul  Chaldeans.  A  powerful  Roman  Catholic 
establishment  in  the  city  affords  considerable  protection  to  its 
own  adherents.  But  the  condition  of  the  Chaldean  villagers 
is  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  Jacobites  and  Nestorian 
Rayahs  already  described.  They  are  often  little  else  than  the 
serfs  of  the  Kurdish  Aghas.  And  the  oppressions  are  increas¬ 
ing  from  year  to  year.  There  can  be  little  question  that  unless  a 
thorough  system  of  reforms  is  introduced,  the  whole  region  will 
soon  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Kurds.  Yes,  there  is  one  other 
alternative  which  would  bring  them  relief.  If  they  would  give 
up  their  faith,  they  might  receive  as  efficient  protection  as  their 
Moslem  neighbors.  But  in  all  their  poverty  in  things  spirit¬ 
ual,  as  well  as  temporal,  living  in  abject  terror  from  day  to 
day,  they  cling  to  their  Christian  faith  as  to  their  ancestral 
homes  with  a  devotion  that  should  compel  admiration  and  the 
assistance  of  the  Christian  powers. 


TWO  WELL-KNOWN  FACTS. 


158 

The  blame  that  rests  upon  the  Turkish  Government  for  its 
chronic  inefficiency  in  regard  to  these,  its  dutiful  Christian 
subjects,  is  made  apparent  in  the  strongest  light  by  two  now 
well-known  facts.  The  first  is,  that  the  Christians  in  Persia,  also 
a  Moslem  Government,  in  precisely  similar  conditions,  though 
the  victims  of  much  oppression  from  Kurds  and  Moham¬ 
medan  Aghas,  live  in  greater  security  and  ease  than  their 
brethren  in  Turkey.  The  second  fact  is,  that  in  the  recent 
outbreaks  against  the  Armenians  of  Turkey,  the  Governors 
of  Mosul  and  Mardin,  under  the  most  imperative  orders  from 
Constantinople,  repressed  all  attempted  assaults  upon  the 
Christian  population  of  those  cities  by  the  most  rigorous 
measures.  It  clearly  shows  what  the  government  might 
have  done  in  other  towns  to  protect  the  Christians  if  it  had 
wished  to  do  so. 

It  is  due  to  say  that  the  Sultan  directed  the  Vali  of  Mosul 
to  proclaim  that  the  reforms  which  had  been  granted  to  the 
Armenians  were  to  extend  to  all  the  Christian  nationalities 
alike.  The  explanatory  telegram  was  sent  subsequently  to 
say  that  these  promised  reforms  were  simply  those  allowed 
by  his  grandfather.  It  would  be  a  joy  to  all  classes — Jacobites, 
Nestorians  and  Chaldeans — if  they  could  indeed  go  back  to 
the  brighter  days  of  thirty  years  ago.  Every  year  but  en¬ 
velops  their  fate  in  direr  gloom  and  hopelessness. 

Of  the  other  Christian  sects  in  the  Turkish  Empire  the 
most  important  are  the  various  branches  of  the  Greek  Church, 
those  connected  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  the 
Copts  of  Egypt.  The  various  branches  of  the  Greek  Church 
have  already  been  described  in  a  previous  chapter.  The 
Copts  in  Egypt  are  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
They  number  about  500,000.  They  live  almost  entirely  in 


MARONITES. 


*59 


the  towns,  and  furnish  the  greater  part  of  the  clerks,  account¬ 
ants  and  general  administrative  officers  in  the  government. 
They  are  also  to  a  considerable  extent  farmers  and  land 
owners,  and  have  risen  especially  under  the  English  adminis¬ 
tration.  They  are  an  intelligent  class,  and  were  it  not  for  the 
oppression  that  they  have  endured  from  the  past  centuries  they 
would  be  far  stronger  than  they  are.  They  form  one  branch  of 
what  is  known  as  the  Monophysite  Church,  akin  to  the  Arme¬ 
nians  and  Abyssinians.  They  preserve  their  old  language  in 
their  liturgy,  but  the  language  of  daily  life  is  entirely  Arabic. 
The  hierarchy  with  them,  as  with  other  Orientals,  has  been 
strongly  conservative  and  oppressive,  bitterly  opposing  every 
effort  to  educate  and  raise  the  people.  Of  late  years,  under 
the  influence  of  the  missionaries  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Board  of  the  United  States,  there  has  been  an  earnest  effort 
to  secure  a  better  condition  of  things.  This,  however,  has 
not  succeeded  to  the  extent  that  was  hoped,  and  still  the 
bishops  and  priests  are  a  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  intelli¬ 
gent  laymen  who  desire  the  reformation  of  the  church. 

The  principal  community  connected  with  the  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic  Church  is  that  of  the  Maronites.  There  are  also  Chal¬ 
deans  and  Armenians  in  some  considerable  numbers,  passing 
under  the  name  of  the  United  Syrian  and  Armenian  Churches, 
or  Uniats.  The  Maronites  number  about  250,000,  and  are 
scattered  all  over  the  Lebanon  and  ante-Lebanon  ranges  in 
Syria.  They  are  found  especially  in  the  northern  districts, 
where  they  have  complete  control  of  local  affairs.  They  also 
extend  south  to  Mt.  Hermon,  in  the  heart  of  the  Druze 
country,  and  they  have  always  been  on  hostile  relations  with 
the  Druzes.  They  take  their  name  from  their  first  Patriarch 
and  political  leader,  John  Maron,  who  lived  in  the  latter  part 


i6o 


MONOTHELITES. 


of  the  seventh  century,  and  under  whose  influence  at  the 
time  of  the  various  ecclesiastical  controversies  they  declared 
themselves  Monothelites.  They  then  occupied  the  plains 
chiefly,  but  afterwards,  under  the  invasion  of  the  Saracens, 
fled  to  the  mountains,  and  there  maintained  their  independ¬ 
ence  for  a  long  time.  At  that  time  they  used  Syriac  in  all 
their  services  and  in  their  social  life,  and  developed  a  feudal 
system  with  a  sort  of  theocratic  government,  their  head  being 
styled  “  The  Patriarch  of  Antioch  and  all  the  East.”  At  the 
time  of  the  Crusades  they  were  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
Christendom,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century 
opened  communications  with  the  Pope  at  Rome.  They 
gradually  adopted  the  Arabic  language  as  their  vernacular, 
and  at  the  Council  of  Florence  were  received  into  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  They  were,  however,  allowed  to  retain  their 
Syriac  liturgy,  the  celebration  of  the  communion  in  both 
kinds,  the  marriage  of  the  lower  clergy,  their  own  fast  days 
and  their  own  saints.  Little  by  little  the  power  of  the  Pope 
over  them  was  strengthened.  A  special  college  was  given 
them  at  Rome,  and  schools  for  clergy  and  printing  presses 
were  established  in  Syria.  A  Papal  legate  was  sent  to  Beirut, 
and  the  Maronites  became  most  submissive  followers  in  the 
Latin  Church. 

They  first  came  prominently  into  the  notice  of  the  rest  of 
the  Christian  world  in  connection  with  the  famous  massacres 
in  i860,  in  which  thousands  of  them  were  butchered  by  the 
Druzes.  The  result  of  this  was  the  redistricting  of  Syria 
under  European  intervention  and  the  formation  of  the  prov¬ 
ince  of  Mt.  Lebanon  under  the  rule  of  a  Christian  gov¬ 
ernor.  At  present  they  are  a  frugal  and  industrious  people, 
mostly  illiterate,  except  where  schools  have  been  established 


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VILLAGE  OF  REED  HUTS  IN  LOWER  MESOPOTAMIA,  together  with  a  group  of  Arabs.  These  are 
not  regular  Bedouin  Arabs,  but  belong  to  another  tribe.  These  villages  are  found  throughout  the  region  south  of  Bagdad 
and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Babylon. 


UNITED  ARMENIAN  CHURCH. 


163 

under  the  pressure  of  the  influence  of  Protestant  missions. 
They  have  many  monasteries  and  guard  as  specially  sacred 
the  famous  group  of  cedars  at  the  head  of  the  gorge  of  the 
Holy  River,  where  is  the  summer  home  of  their  Patriarch. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  American  missions  the  Jesuits  and 
Lazarists  have  exefted  themselves  to  keep  their  hold  upon 
the  young  men.  They  have  established  a  fine  school  for 
boys  and  have  a  large  college  at  Beirut  and  fine  library  with 
very  complete  scientific  apparatus.  The  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  commenced  work 
among  these  people  early  in  the  present  century  and  it  is 
now  carried  on  by  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  distinctive 
Protestant  community  is  not  large,  but  has  a  very  powerful 
influence,  and  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut,  with 
its  medical  department,  has  done  very  much  to  develop  a 
better  life  among  all  these  people. 

At  the  same  Council  of  Florence  in  1439  that  gathered 
the  Maronites  under  the  care  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
there  was  formed  a  United  Armenian  Church,  consisting  of 
a  number  of  Gregorian  Armenians,  who  felt  that  it  was  best 
for  the  interests  of  their  people  to  cease  their  separation  from 
the  Western  Church.  They  have,  however,  not  grown  in 
numbers  to  any  great  degree,  and  are  chiefly  known  through 
their  monastery  at  Venice,  which  has  been  foremost  in  the 
development  of  Armenian  literature.  They  are  strongest  in 
Constantinople  and  on  the  seaboard,  though  there  are  some 
congregations  in  the  interior.  They  are  as  a  rule  looked 
upon  by  the  Gregorian  Armenians  with  more  suspicion  even 
that  the  Protestants,  on  account  of  their  political  relations 

with  the  French  Government. 

10 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Rise  and  Decline  of  Ottoman  Power. 

Capture  of  Constantinople — Victories  of  Mohammed  II-The  Sultans  Assume  the  Caliphate 
_ Reitm  of  Suleiman  the  Magnificent— Attack  upon  Venice— Constant  Strife  over  the 
Danubian  Principalities— Internal  Disorganization— Weak  Sultans  and  Powerful  Viziers— 
Alliances  with  Foreign  Powers— Repeated  Disasters— Weak  Rule  in  Asia— Revolt  in 
Egypt  and  Syria— Condition  at  Commencement  of  Present  Century. 

FOR  a  little  more  than  half  a  century  after  the  foundation 
of  the  Ottoman  dynasty,  the  Ottomans  merely  formed 
one  of  the  many  bands  of  Turks  who  roamed  over 
Western  Asia  and  Southeastern  Europe,  plundering  the  Chris¬ 
tians  where  they  could  and  fighting  each  other  in  a  pro¬ 
miscuous  contest  for  the  supremacy ;  always,  however,  show¬ 
ing  an  upward  tendency.  Not  only  were  they  vigorous  on 
the  battle-field,  but  shrewd  in  their  policies.  The  close  of 
the  Seljuk  dynasty  was  the  signal  for  the  division  of  the  once 
famous  empire  of  Rum.  One  by  one  these  divisions  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  new  Sultans ;  some  by  conquest,  some  by 
purchase,  some  by  politics,  until  they  were  by  far  the  most 
powerful  element  in  that  whole  section.  The  weakening  of 
the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  its  practical  loss  of  power  over 
the  Danubian  provinces,  tempted  these  Turks  across  the 
Dardanelles,  and  they  measured  swords  with  the  Serbs, 
Wallachs  and  others.  Under  Amurath,  the  founder  of  the 
(164) 


CAPTURE  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


i65 

Janissaries,  they  became  a  terror  to  all,  and  the  flag,  whose 
red  color  was  established  by  himself  as  token  of  the  blood 
that  flowed  wherever  they  went,  was  flaunted  in  the  very  face 
of  Christian  Emperors.  Then,  however,  came  a  check ; 
Timour-Lenk  (Timour  the  Lame,  Tamerlane),  who  had  risen 
against  his  Sultan  in  the  small  canton  of  Trans-Oxiana, 
gathered  to  his  standard  the  semi-barbarous  tribes  of  Turk¬ 
estan,  spread  through  Khorassan,  Persia,  Georgia  and  South¬ 
ern  Russia ,  then  south  through  Armenia  and  Mesopotamia 
into  India.  1  hen  he  turned  again  westward,  and,  influenced  not 
a  little,  perhaps,  by  the  presence  in  his  court  of  some  Turkish 
princes,  deposed  by  the  Ottoman  Sultans,  he  captured  Syria, 
and  just  as  Bajazet  was  under  the  walls  of  Constantinople  he 
heard  that  his  own  kingdoms  were  in  danger.  At  the  famous 
battle  of  Konieh  (Iconium)  the  Ottoman  power  was  broken ; 
but  with  the  death  of  Timour  his  empire  went  to  pieces  and 
the  Ottoman  line  again  resumed  its  power.  For  another 
half  century  advance  was  made  even  more  rapidly  than 
before,  and  on  either  side  of  the  Bosporus  and  Dardanelles 
the  arms  of  the  Turks  were  victorious. 

The  capture  of  Constantinople,  which  followed  in  1453, 
really  marked  the  beginning  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  The 
series  of  forays,  with  the  occasional  capture  of  an  important 
city  or  even  of  a  province  in  Asia  Minor  or  the  Balkan  Pen¬ 
insula,  had  become  an  organized  campaign  for  the  subjuga¬ 
tion  of  the  whole  of  Western  Asia  and  Southeastern  Europe. 
More  than  that,  an  entire  change  in  form  of  government  became 
necessary.  Hitherto  all  of  government  that  there  had  been 
was  that  of  the  army,  and  pertained  to  the  immediate  Moslem 
followers  of  the  Sultan.  The  various  tribes  or  nations  who 
yielded  to  his  arms,  but  refused  to  accept  Islam,  really  had  no 


NOW  AN  EMPEROR. 


1 66 

relation  whatever  to  his  rule.  They  paid  what  tribute  was 
demanded,  but  there  was  no  such  thing  as  regular  civil 
government.  When,  however,  Constantinople  was  captured, 
this  condition  could  no  longer  continue.  It  was  essential  that 
there  be  some  definite  relation  arranged  between  the  Sultan 
and  the  large  class  of  Greeks  who  had  come  to  form  so  im¬ 
portant  a  part  of  the  empire.  He  realized  that  the  whole 
position  was  changed ;  that  he  was  no  longer  merely  a 
general,  but  an  emperor,  and  an  emperor  over  a  very  hetero¬ 
geneous  empire. 

To  begin  with,  there  were  the  Greeks  in  Constantinople, 
all  through  Western  Asia  Minor  and  in  Europe;  there  were 
the  Armenians,  scarcely  recognized  as  a  distinct  people,  with 
at  the  time  no  government  of  their  own,  scarcely  more  than 
a  race,  an  ecclesiastical  unit,  held  together  by  their  church  re¬ 
lations,  and  with  a  sort  of  tribal  organization  ;  there  was  the 
Syrian  Church  in  its  varied  forms,  Nestorian  and  Jacobite; 
there  were  the  different  branches  of  the  Slav  race,  all  com¬ 
bined  under  the  Greek  Church.  Undoubtedly  Mohammed  II, 
would  have  been  glad  to  have  made  them  all  Moslem.  That, 
however,  he  could  not  do,  and  very  possibly  he  realized  that 
while  such  a  course  might  flatter  his  pride,  it  would  not  be  so 
advantageous  for  his  treasury,  for  he  collected  taxes  from 
Christians  which  Moslems  would  refuse  to  pay.  Still,  there 
must  be  some  method  arranged  by  which  these  different 
nationalities  should  not  only  have  their  existence  recognized, 
but  should  be  allowed  a  certain  development  with  a  view  to 
the  strengthening  of  the  empire. 

During  the  century  that  had  elapsed  since  the  Ottoman 
dynasty  began,  the  various  Sultans  had  come  into  contact  with 
the  forms  of  Roman  government.  They  had  taken  advantage 


CHURCH  AND  STATE. 


167 


of  it  in  arranging  for  Moslems  within  the  territories  of  the 
Greek  Emperors,  and  the  Roman  system  of  one  law  for  the 
citizen,  another  for  the  foreigner,  was  perfectly  familiar  to 
them.  Mohammed  adopted  this  principle,  and  basing  it  upon 
the  idea,  which  dominates  the  whole  growth  of  Moslem 
power,  of  absolute  union  of  Church  and  State,  developed  the 
system  which  has  governed  in  all  that  region  until  the  present 
day,  and  established  a  series  of  communities  centering  about 

o 

the  different  ecclesiastical  leaders.  Although  it  was  not  till  a 
later  date  that  the  Sultans  assumed  the  title  of  Caliph,  they 
had  practically  ruled  as  Caliphs  among  their  Moslem  subjects. 
The  same  principle  Mohammed  II  applied  to  the  Christians 
of  his  empire.  Recognizing  the  Greek  Patriarch  at  Con¬ 
stantinople  as  the  centre  of  authority,  he  called  to  that 
office  the  head  of  the  party,  which  under  the  last  Constantine 
had  opposed  a  union  with  the  Latin  Church,  and  thereby,  as 
he  thought,  had  made  his  own  conquest  easier,  and  confirmed 
him  in  the  dignity  of  the  double  office,  civil  and  religious, 
which  he  was  to  exercise  over  his  people.  He  associated 
with  him  the  clergy  and  learned  men  of  the  church,  and 
treated  them  with  marked  indulgence.  He  instituted  a  court, 
giving  the  rank  of  Vizier  to  the  Patriarch  and  granting 
to  him  a  guard  of  Janissaries.  He  established  a  system 
of  government  by  which  all  community  and  social  rights 
and  duties  were  vested  in  the  Patriarchate,  which  had 
sole  authority  in  cases  of  marriage  contracts,  legacies,  wills, 
divorces,  and  even  had  absolute  authority  in  criminal  matters, 
except  such  as  directly  involved  the  Sultan’s  authority. 
Thus  there  grew  up  a  distinct  community  life  involv¬ 
ing  a  national  life.  The  principle  of  the  Moslem  being 
that  there  could  be  no  legitimate  relations  between  himself 


COMMUNAL  RIGHTS. 


1 68 

and  the  non-Moslem,  there  were  accorded  to  these  all  the 
various  community  or  communal  rights.  They  had  their  own 
quarter  of  the  city,  town  or  village ;  their  own  shops,  butchers, 
bakers,  tailors ;  their  own  mills  as  well  as  their  own  churches. 
True,  there  was  demanded  of  them  a  heavy  tax,  the  regular 
capitation  or  poll  tax,  and  the  kharadj  or  military  exemption 
tax,  demanded  of  every  non-Moslem  male  from  the  age  of 
three  years.  These  taxes  were  by  no  means  light,  and  it  was 
the  general  principle  of  the  government  to  so  administer 
them  as  to  impress  it  very  clearly  upon  the  unbeliever  that 
his  condition  was  abject,  and  that  even  his  life  was  a  mark  of 
the  Sultan’s  favor.  Still,  there  was  a  certain  independence, 
and  the  Greeks  gathered  again  to  their  city,  and  the  wiser  of 
the  Sultans  that  followed  Mohammed  II  carried  out  the  idea 
of  developing  rather  than  of  fiercely  oppressing  these  com¬ 
munities. 

With  this  granting  of  communal  rights  to  the  Greeks  came 
in  due  time  the  recognition  of  the  same  principle  in  the  case 
of  the  other  Christians,  and  each  was  represented  at  the  Sub¬ 
lime  Porte  by  its  Patriarch,  with  the  various  attendants  of 
bishops  and  clergy. 

One  marked  result  of  this  course  was  to  intensify  the 
separation  between  these  different  nationalities.  The  com¬ 
munities  of  Greeks,  Armenians  and  Syrians  being  so  distinct, 
there  arose  more  or  less  of  strife  between  them  as  to  which 
should  secure  the  greater  privileges  and  develop  the  most  of 
community  life.  Hence  the  original  hostilities  arising  out  of  the 
differences  of  creed  and  worship  were  emphasized  rather  than 
lessened,  and  whether  intentionally  or  not,  there  grew  up  the 
custom  under  the  Sultans  of  ruling  in  a  great  degree  by 
force  of  jealousies  between  different  classes  of  their  subjects. 


DISTURBING  INFLUENCES. 


169 


This  general  principle  adopted  in  Constantinople  was 
carried  out  in  minor  detail  all  through  the  empire.  In  every 
city  Christians  were  organized  into  their  communities  and  the 
ecclesiastical  head,  whatever  he  might  be,  whether  bishop  or 
priest  or  deacon,  was  recognized  by  the  local  government 
as  the  civil  head  of  his  community.  Appeals  could  be  made 
to  his  higher  ecclesiastical  authorities,  and  the  whole  power 
of  the  Turkish  Government  was  brought  to  bear  to  enforce 
the  decrees  of  these  semi-civil,  semi-ecclesiastical  rulers. 

It  was  not,  however  an  easy  thing  to  develop  any  system 
of  this  kind  throughout  the  empire.  Among  the  disturbing 
influences  was  the  confiscation  of  the  lands  of  the  great 
Greek  families  and  their  transformation  into  fiefs,  which  were 
conferred  on  distinguished  warriors  who  held  them  on  condi- 
tion  of  serving  the  Sultan  with  a  certain  number  of  followers, 
helped  to  solidify  the  empire,  but  operated  very  heavily  to 
repress  the  Christians.  It  left  them  at  the  mercy  of  these 
feudal  chiefs,  and  the  situation  during  the  centuries  that  fol¬ 
lowed  was  one  of  increasing  oppression.  This  was  assisted 
by  the  degradation  of  their  own  priesthood.  Their  position 
as  civil  representatives  of  their  people  detracted  more  and 
more  from  their  spiritual  teaching,  and  they  became  addicted 
to  all  sorts  of  intrigues. 

Two  notable  results  followed.  One  was  the  formation  of 
bands  of  freebooters  in  the  mountain  regions,  who  preyed 
upon  the  plain  villages  in  proportion  as  the  feudal  lords  were 
careless  or  weak ;  the  other  was  the  gradual  dispersion  of 
these  Christian  communities.  This  affected  the  Armenians 
more  than  any  others.  They  wandered  here  and  there  over 
the  empire  in  search  of  some  place  where  they  should  be  left 
unmolested.  It  was  about  this  time  that  they  established 


EXTENDING  CONQUEST. 


17O 

their  quasi-kingdom  at  Sis  in  Cilicia,  and  spread  over  the 
plains  of  Northern  Syria  and  of  Central  Asia  Minor.  Their 
kingdom  had  a  short  life,  and  the  effect  of  their  wandering 
from  the  ancestral  home  was  to  bring  them  still  more  under 
the  oppression  of  the  Turks,  so  that  they  even  lost  the  ordi¬ 
nary  use  of  their  language. 

Of  the  events  that  followed  the  capture  of  Constantinople 
it  is  impossible  here  to  do  more  than  to  give  the  very  briefest 
summary,  and  emphasize  only  such  points  as  are  most  essen¬ 
tial  to  the  understanding  of  the  situation  as  it  is  to-day. 
First  came  the  extending  of  conquest,  and  during  the  thirty 
years  that  followed  the  capture  of  Constantinople,  it  seemed 
as  if  more  had  been  done  than  at  any  time  before.  Servia 
yielded  ;  then  came  Greece,  although  the  famous  Scanderbeg 
held  his  own  in  Albania.  More  than  one  historian  has  sug¬ 
gested  that  the  effort  to  subdue  him  was  only  half-hearted  out 
of  regard  for  his  bravery  and  for  the  memories  of  his  early 
life  with  the  Turks.  Then  Wallachia  yielded  and  the  people 
of  Transylvania  found  the  Moslem  no  severer  ruler  than 
Wlad,  called  by  his  subjects  Drakul  (the  devil).  Bosnia 
yielded  its  rule  next,  and  war  spread  on  southward  and  west¬ 
ward  against  the  Albanians  and  Venetians.  Meanwhile  the 
princes  of  Karaman,  who  for  a  century  and  a  half  had  held  a 
varying  rule  in  Central  Asia  Minor,  were  finally  subdued  and 
the  Sultan’s  power  over  what  is  now  Asiatic  Turkey  was 
practically  complete.  Again  he  turned  to  Europe,  crossed 
the  Dardanelles,  took  Moldavia  and  captured  the  Crimea, 
which  had  for  a  time  been  under  the  Khans  of  that  country, 
though  they  had  in  turn  yielded  to  a  Christian  republic,  which 
had  maintained  itself  for  some  time  with  its  capital,  the  most 
important  town  of  the  northern  Black  Sea  coast.  Always, 


THE  SULTAN’S  EXALTATION. 


171 

however,  there  was  the  outlook  westward,  and  although  Venice 
checked  the  advance  of  the  Ottomans,  they  still  threw  them¬ 
selves  upon  Transylvania  and  made  incursions  into  Hungary 
and  Italy,  and  Mohammed  II  closed  his  reign  with  an  attack 
upon  Rhodes,  which,  however,  was  repulsed. 

From  the  death  of  Mohammed  II,  in  1481,  to  the  reign  of 
S  le  man  the  IVIa^nificent,  in  1520,  there  were  expeditions 
into  Hungary  and  Moldavia,  and  war  with  Venice  and 
Persia,  but  no  great  additions  to  the  Ottoman  domain.  This, 
however,  was  more  than  made  up  by  the  conquest  of  Syria 
and  Egypt.  The  significance  of  these  conquests  was  great 
as  mere  territorial  enlargement  of  the  empire,  but  more 
important  still  were  the  attendant  influences  which  resulted  in 
placing  the  Turkish  Sultans  at  the  head  of  the  Moslem  world. 
The  last  Mameluke  Sultan,  of  Egypt,  was  hanged  at  the  gate 
of  Cairo  in  1517*  a°d  Sultan  Selim  passed  a  month  longer  in 
that  capital  presiding  at  two  great  Egyptian  fetes — the  open¬ 
ing  of  the  Cairo  Canal,  and  the  departure  of  the  annual 
caravan  for  Mecca,  and  received  from  the  Sherif  of  Mecca 
the  keys  of  the  Kaaba.  His  army,  however,  became  restless 
and  he  returned  to  Constantinople.  To  that  city  he  sum¬ 
moned  Mohammed  XII,  the  last  representative  of  the  Abbas- 
side  Caliphs,  to  whom  the  rulers  of  Egypt  had  always  given 
the  honorary  title.  Selim  required  of  him  to  relinquish  the 
rights  and  distinctive  ensigns  of  the  Caliphate,  the  standard, 
the  sword  and  the  mantle  of  the  prophet,  and  assumed  the 
political  and  religious  chieftainship  of  Islam.  This  conquest 
of  Egypt  and  the  assumption  of  the  Caliphate  attracted  the 
alarm  of  European  powers  and  resulted  in  treaties  with 
Venice  and  Hungary.  A  second  attack  on  Rhodes  was 


1J2 


SULEIMAN  THE  MAGNIFICENT. 


planned,  but  not  carried  out,  and  in  1520  Selim  gave  place  to 

his  son  Suleiman  the  Magnificent. 

The  reign  of  Suleiman  from  1520  to  1566,  deserves  more 
than  a  passing  mention.  It  was  the  golden  age  of  the  Turk¬ 
ish  rule,  when  the  empire  reached  its  greatest  extent  and 
achieved  its  highest  success;  when  all  Europe  was  either 
dreading  its  advance  or  treating  for  its  assistance.  But  it 
was  also5 noticeable  for  its  internal  organization,  which  remained 
until  Mahmud  II,  under  the  pressure  of  the  altered  circum¬ 
stances  of  250  years  later,  made  changes  which  have  resulted 
in  the  present  system. 

The  relations  between  Turkey  and  the  European  powers, 
inaugurated  practically  during  this  reign,  will  be  treated  of 
later.  Here  it  is  the  purpose  to  survey  the  general  history 
of  that  reign.  The  first  act  was  the  suppression  of  a  revolt 
along  the  Danube,  and  Belgrade  was  taken,  its  Serb  popula¬ 
tion  being  transferred  to  Constantinople  in  pursuance  of  a 
policy  inaugurated  by  Mohammed  II  for  the  building  up  of 
that  city.  &Then  the  Sultan  turned  his  eyes  to  Rhodes,  and 
with  a  fleet  of  300  vessels  and  100,000  men  undertook  its 
capture.  For  five  months  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Knights 
held  out,  but  was  finally  forced  to  yield,  and  betook  himself 
with  his  men  to  Malta,  where  they  planned  anew  the  war 
against  the  Koran.  Next  to  Rhodes,  Hungary  was  the  great 
object  of  the  Sultan’s  ambition,  and  it  was  only  a  few  years 
later  that  he  made  vast  preparations  for  an  invasion.  At  the 
battle  of  Mohacz,  in  1526,  the  Hungarian  kingdom  was  de¬ 
stroyed,  and  on  the  10th  of  September  Suleiman  entered 
Budapesth. 

Revolts  in  Asia,  however,  called  back  the  Sultan,  though 
the  war  continued  in  Hungary,  and  a  second  expedition  was 


ATTACK  ON  VIENNA. 


3 


started  three  years  later.  It  was  the  Turkish  theory  that  any 
place  in  which  the  Sultan  had  slept  was  within  the  bounds  of 
his  empire,  and  accordingly  again  Budapesth  was  occupied ; 
this  time,  however,  merely  as  a  vantage  ground  from  which 
to  attack  Vienna  itself.  The  history  of  the  defense  of  the 
Austrian  capital  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the  military 
history  of  Central  Europe  during  that  century.  Notwithstand¬ 
ing  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  Turks,  with  their  army 
of  300,000  men  and  300  cannon,  besides  a  strong  flotilla,  the 
Austrians,  reinforced  by  the  Protestants — so-called  since  the 
protest  at  Spires  in  the  spring  of  that  year — resolved  to  de¬ 
fend  the  place.  The  city  walls  were  weak  and  out  of  repair, 
and  the  Sultan  apparently  thought  conquest  easy,  for  he  sent 
a  message  that  if  the  garrison  would  surrender  he  would  not 
even  enter  the  town,  but  press  on  in  search  of  the  emperor; 
if  they  resisted  he  would  dine  in  Vienna  on  the  third  day,  and 
then  he  would  not  spare  even  the  child  in  the  womb.  They, 
however,  would  not  yield,  and  he  never  entered.  The  bravery 
of  the  troops  who  gathered  from  every  part  of  Germany, 
assisted  by  the  valor  of  the  citizens,  repulsed  the  Turks  again 
and  again,  and,  as  the  season  was  advancing,  the  Sultan  re¬ 
turned  to  Constantinople.  A  third  expedition  resulted  again 
in  a  most  humiliating  disgrace ;  350,000  Turks,  led  by  the 
Sultan  himself,  were  detained  more  than  three  weeks  by  a 
garrison  of  about  700  men  at  a  little  town  in  Styria.  Ger¬ 
many  amassed  all  its  forces,  and  now  there  came  in  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  Western  Europe.  France  had  already  made  advances 
to  the  Turkish  Government,  and  Venice,  seeking  protection 
for  her  commerce,  had  entered  into  treaty,  and  both  of  them 
through  their  ambassadors  advised  the  Sultan,  with  a  weak¬ 
ened  army,  not  to  meet  the  well-organized  troops  of  Charles 


i74 


INTERNAL  HISTORY. 


V.  The  expedition,  therefore,  was  reluctantly  withdrawn,  to 
be  renewed  again  later,  and  again  given  up  when  a  general 
truce  was  arranged  with  the  German  power.  Meanwhile, 
however,  Barbarossa  had  come  in  conflict  with  the  Venetian 
Doria,  and  the  Italian  shore  was  threatened  by  the  Turkish 
troops.  But  no  great  gains  were  made,  and  at  the  death  of 
Suleiman,  in  1566,  no  positive  advance  had  been  registered. 

The  internal  history  of  the  empire  was  in  some  respects 
more  important  than  the  external.  Suleiman  is  known  among 
the  Ottomans  as  the  Legislator.  He  organized  the  Ulemas, 
altered  the  system  of  fiefs,  and  arranged  matters  of  finance, 
justice,  civil  and  penal  law,  and  the  various  departments  of 
his  empire.  The  general  principle  of  land  tenure  was  based 
upon  the  doctrine  that  the  soil  belonged  to  God,  and  thus  to 
his  representative,  the  Sultan.  It  was,  however,  apart  from 
that  reserved  for  the  Sultan  himself,  divided  into  three  classes, 
land  occupied  by  Mussulmans  after  the  concjuest,  subject  only 
to  the  tithes;  land  let  to  conquered  populations,  especially 
Rayahs  (non-Moslem  subjects),  who,  aside  from  the  tithe,  paid 
capitation  and  exemption  taxes ;  and  the  domains  given  by 
the  Sultan  as  military  rewards  under  the  arrangement  inau¬ 
gurated  by  Amurath  I.  In  general,  the  principle  of  the  col¬ 
lection  of  taxes  had  been  to  make  them  as  onerous  as  possi¬ 
ble.  Suleiman  recognized  the  unwisdom  of  this,  and  intro¬ 
duced  various  modifications,  which  had  the  effect  of  lessening 
the  harshness,  and  at  the  same  time  of  increasing  the  revenues. 
He  also  looked  very  closely  after  the  fiefs,  demanding  that 
only  the  smaller  ones  should  be  under  the  control  of  the  gov¬ 
ernors  of  provinces;  that  the  larger  ones  must  be  referred  to 
Constantinople.  This  last  order  had  special  reference  to  the 
taxes  levied  by  these  governors  upon  the  peasants.  Notwith- 


PAYMENT  FOR  CRIME. 


175 


standing  this  organized  system  of  revenue,  the  income  was  not 
sufficient,  and  additional  contributions  of  one  kind  and  another 
were  laid,  especially  upon  conquered  provinces,  such  as  Hun¬ 
gary  and  Transylvania,  which  resulted  in  the  almost  utter 
destruction  of  their  prosperity.  In  the  matter  of  crime,  cor¬ 
poral  punishment  was  sparingly  inflicted.  Almost  every 
crime  could  be  atoned  for  by  the  payment  of  a  fine.  Not¬ 
withstanding  the  brilliant  success  achieved,  it  was  in  this  very 
reign  that  the  decadence  of  Moslem  rule  commenced.  The 
heavy  expenses  of  the  various  wars,  and  of  the  organization 
of  the  empire,  had  a  great  influence  in  bringing  about  a  con¬ 
dition  of  venality  which  rapidly  sapped  the  strength  of  the 
government.  Suleiman  saw  it,  but  allowed  it  to  pass,  only 
taking  care  that  it  did  not  interfere  with  his  army.  His  power 
over  the  army,  however,  weakened.  It  had  hitherto  been  the 
custom  that  the  Janissaries  should  never  enter  war  except 
under  the  personal  lead  of  the  Sultan.  This  privilege  was 
withdrawn.  Their  numbers  also  were  recruited  by  adventurers 
of  every  kind,  and  the  general  discipline  was  weakened  by 
allowing  them  to  marry,  follow  trades,  and  become  stationary 
in  the  garrisons,  where  they  were  practically  citizens,  mer¬ 
chants,  operators,  etc.  In  the  general  conduct  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  also,  the  Sultan  no  longer  presided  over  the  Cabinet 
Meeting  or  Divan,  as  it  was  called.  He  confined  himself 
more  and  more  to  his  palace,  and  came  under  the  effeminating 
influence  of  a  luxury  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  the  sur¬ 
roundings  of  the  Christian  princes  of  Europe  paled  before 
the  pomp  of  the  Moslem  Court.  The  formal  condemnation 
by  the  Koran  of  such  luxury  was  passed  by  entirely,  the  sim¬ 
plicity  of  manners  to  which  the  empire  owed  its  advance  was 
greatly  corrupted;  the  use  of  wine  became  quite  common, 


176 


CHRONIC  WAR. 


and  the  use  of  coffee,  just  introduced,  was  carried  to  excess. 
The  result  was  that  in  every  department  of  the  government 
there  were  sown  the  seeds  of  the  weakness  that  manifested 
itself,  with  occasional  exceptions,  in  the  history  of  the  suc¬ 
ceeding  two  and  one-half  centuries. 

o 

The  history  of  the  following  years,  aside  from  the  relations 
with  the  European  Governments,  must  be  passed  over  very 
briefly.  They  include  expeditions  to  Arabia,  the  conquest  of 
Cyprus  in  1570,  the  battle  of  Lepanto,  when  the  fleets  of 
Europe — Spanish,  Italian  and  Venetian — blotted  out  the 
Turkish  marine,  and  freed  the  Mediterranean  coast  from  the 
terror  of  their  devastations.  This  was,  however,  somewhat 
compensated  for  by  the  capture  of  Tunis.  There  was  chronic 
war  with  Hungary  and  Persia,  that  with  the  latter  power  re¬ 
sulting  in  the  addition  to  the  Ottoman  Power  of  Georgia  and 
a  considerable  portion  of  Northern  and  Southeastern  Persia. 
The  whole  Balkan  Peninsula  was  in  a  chronic  state  of  revolt 
and  subjugation.  There  were  powerful  Sultans,  such  as  Am- 
urath  I,  and  great  viziers,  as  the  Kuprulis.  At  times  the 
Turkish  successors  threatened  again  the  peace  of  Europe,  but 
they  were  generally  used  by  one  and  another  government, 
particularly  France,  as  a  check  to  the  encroachments  of 
enemies. 

In  1669,  “the  Ottoman  Empire  included  forty  governments 
and  four  tributary  countries  :  in  Europe  all  Greece,  Illyria, 
Maesia,  Macedonia,  Pannonia,  Thrace  and  Dacia;  the 
kingdoms  of  Pyrrhus  and  Perseus;  the  states  of  Treballi  and 
the  Bulgarians  :  in  Africa  the  kingdom  of  the  Ptolemies,  with 
the  territory  of  Carthage  and  Numidia:  in  Asia  the  kingdoms 
of  Mithridates,  Antiochus,  Attalus,  Prusias,  Herod  and  Ti- 
granes ;  those  of  the  obscure  sovereigns  of  Cappadocia, 


SOBIESKI’S  ASSISTANCE. 


177 


Cilicia  and  Comagena ;  the  territories  of  the  Iberians  and  the 
Scythians,  and  a  portion  of  the  empire  of  the  Parthians. 
Without  reckoning  the  Greek  Republics  and  the  Tyrian 
colony,  there  were  twenty  kingdoms  included  in  these  forty 
governments,  from  the  Syrtes  to  the  Caucasus,  and  to  the 
countries  watered  by  the  Hydaspes.” 

To  these  territories  was  added  the  lower  part  of  Russia, 
held  by  the  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine,  who  voluntarily  sub¬ 
mitted  to  the  Sultan’s  rule  as  protection  against  the  Russians 
and  Poland.  This  occasioned  the  war  with  Poland,  when  the 
Poles  were  led  by  John  Sobieski.  The  famous  general,  Kara 
Mustapha,  in  1683,  sought  to  rival  the  conquests  of  Suleiman, 
and  with  an  army  more  powerful  than  any  the  Turks  had 
ever  sent  from  Constantinople,  determined  to  besiege  Vienna. 
The  Austrian  king  called  for  Sobieski’s  assistance,  and  secured 
it  notwithstanding  the  intrigues  of  Louis  XIV,  who  vainly 
sought  to  convince  the  Pole  that  his  real  enemies  were  in 

o 

Austria,  and  in  that  power  of  the  north  whom  the  Dutch 
papers  had  begun  to  call  “  His  Russian  Majesty.”  Loyal  to 
his  religion,  however,  Sobieski  went  to  the  aid  of  Vienna. 
His  cavalry,  aided  by  that  of  the  Germans,  put  the  Turks  to 
flight  after  more  than  10,000  of  their  troops  had  been  left  on 
the  field  of  battle.  Then  came  a  panic,  and  the  Turks  fled  in 
disorder,  leaving  an  immense  booty  to  the  victors.  Of  this 
the  King  of  Poland  received  as  his  share  4,000,000  florins, 
while  arms  studded  with  precious  stones,  and  banners  and 
treasures  to  a  very  heavy  amount,  were  divided  among  the 
victors. 

The  war  with  Austria  developed  into  the  war  against  the 
Holy  Alliance,  a  league  against  the  Turks,  under  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  the  Pope,  and  formed  by  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the 


PEACE  OF  CARLOWITZ. 


178 

King  of  Poland,  and  the  Republic  of  Venice,  to  which  also  the 
Czar  was  invited.  This  war  went  on  with  varying  fortunes 
until  the  peace  of  Carlowitz,  in  1699.  This  period  included 
the  rule  of  the  famous  Kupruli  Mustapha  Pasha,  one  of  the 
most  successful  and  most  noted  of  the  Macedonian  family, 
which  supplied  five  viziers  to  the  Ottoman  throne.  He  was 
probably  one  of  the  most  intelligent,  courageous  and  humane 
statesmen  of  Turkey,  and  his  death  in  battle  was  regretted 
alike  by  Christians  and  Turks,  who  named  him  Kupruli  the 
Virtuous.  The  tide,  however,  had  set  against  Turkey,  and 
under  the  influence  of  William  of  Orange  the  intrigues  of 
Louis  XIV,  were  set  aside,  and  Turkey  signed  the  peace  of 
Carlowitz.  By  this  Hungary  and  Transylvania  were  ceded  to 
Austria,  with  the  exception  only  of  a  small  territory.  Poland 
recovered  Ukraine  and  Podolia  ;  Russia  retained  Azof;  Venice 
on  her  part  gave  up  her  conquests  to  the  north  of  the  Gulf  of 
Corinth  and  almost  the  whole  of  Dalmatia,  and  all  the  tributes 
paid  by  the  Christian  powers  to  the  Ottoman  courts  were 
abolished. 

This  was  the  first  great  gap  made  in  the  Ottoman  Empire,  and 
from  this  time  it  ceased  to  be  an  object  of  dread  in  Europe. 
Hitherto  it  had  been  isolated  and  owed  its  greatness  to  that 
fact  in  considerable  degree.  Now  it  was  dominated  by  its 
allies  and  had  to  submit  to  the  influence  of  ambitious  neigh¬ 
bors  or  interested  friends.  Its  decline  could  no  longer  be 
hindered,  and  already  there  was  upon  its  borders  that  power 
of  the  north,  which,  by  gaining  an  entrance  to  the  Black  Sea, 
commenced  really  its  European  life. 

The  example  of  Kupruli  the  Virtuous  was  followed  by 
Kupruli  the  Wise,  who  immediately  set  himself  about  im¬ 
proving  the  general  condition  of  the  empire.  In  the  European 


A  KHAN  OR  CARAVANSARY.  The  alcoves  are  used  by  travelers  in  which  to  spread  their  rugs  and  store 
their  merchandise  in  good  weather.  What  appear  to  be  platforms  are  the  roofs  of  the  stables,  half  under  ground.  In 
time  of  storm  or  in  w  inter,  most  travelers  occupy  platforms  in  these  stables. 


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sultan’s  rule  nominal. 


181 


provinces  he  favored  his  Christian  subjects  in  regard  to  the 
payment  of  arrears  of  taxes,  and  in  Syria  he  gave  them  free¬ 
dom  of  pasturage  for  flocks.  The  Mussulmans  under  the 
general  influences  of  the  time  retrograded  in  their  devotion  to 
their  religion,  and  he  strove  by  every  means  to  recall  them  to 
the  study  and  practice  of  that  religion,  but  failed  to  keep  a 
a  hold  even  upon  the  Moslem  leaders,  and  yielded  his  life  to 
their  intrigues.  This  was  about  the  commencement  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  through  that  century  the  history,  so 
far  as  the  immediate  empire  itself  is  concerned,  is  a  varying 
one.  It  commenced  with  a  time  of  peace,  under  the  diminu¬ 
tion  of  French  influence  and  a  general  disregard  of  the  Russian 
power.  That,  however,  under  Peter  the  Great,  commenced 
aggressions  that  soon  aroused  Mussulman  pride,  which,  irri¬ 
tated  at  the  appearance  of  the  infidel  on  the  Black  Sea, 
hitherto  regarded  as  sacred  to  Islam,  declared  war.  This  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  restoration  of  Azof  to  the  Ottoman  Government 
and  the  shutting  out  of  Russia  from  the  Black  Sea.  More 
and  more,  however,  the  influence  of  European  politics  (dwelt 
upon  more  in  detail  in  another  chapter)  was  evident  in  in¬ 
ternal  disturbances,  which  had  their  effect  not  merely  upon 
Christians,  but  upon  Moslems,  and  Russian  intrigue  played  an 
increasingly  powerful  part  in  the  general  development  of  the 
empire. 

Even  throughout  Asiatic  Turkey  the  rule  of  the  Sultan  was 
scarcely  more  than  nominal.  The  province  of  Bagdad  was 
practically  independent,  furnished  no  revenues,  and,  although 
a  certain  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan  was  acknowledged,  even 
war  with  a  European  power  brought  no  troops,  which  were 
held  to  be  necessary  as  a  defense  against  the  Arabs.  Through¬ 
out  Eastern  Turkey  there  were  whole  nations  or  tribes  of 


l82 


THE  MAMELUKES. 


people  independent  of  the  Sultan  and  his  pashas,  and  the 
Pasha  of  Trebizond  was  master  of  the  whole  country.  Aghas, 
or  independent  lords,  maintained  armies  even  up  to  the 
borders  of  Smyrna,  and  the  mountains  throughout  Asia 
Minor  and  the  Lebanon  were  perfectly  independent.  Most 
of  them,  aside  from  the  Armenians  and  Greeks,  were 
Moslems,  yet  not  a  few  sectaries,  as  Kurds  and  the 
Metawelis,  united  religious  to  political  hostility.  On  the 
coast  of  Syria,  only  the  ports  were  under  strong  Turkish 
rule,  and  caravans  from  Alexandretta  to  Aleppo  dared 
not  cross  the  mountains  because  of  the  Kurds.  At  this 
same  time  was  developed  the  power  of  the  Mamelukes 
in  Egypt,  under  the  famous  Ali  Bey,  who  joined  with  him 
an  Arab  chief,  and  dominated  pretty  nearly  all  of  Syria. 
In  1770  the  empire  seemed  near  its  dismemberment.  The 
Russians  held  the  Danube  and  Azof,  Georgia  was  in  rebellion, 
even  Damascus  was  threatened,  and  Ali  Pasha,  of  Janina, 
was  laying  the  foundations  of  his  power  in  Albania.  The 
next  step  downward  was  the  treaty  of  Kainardji  in  1774, 
which  gave  Crimea  to  the  Czar,  accorded  the  navigation  of 
the  Black  Sea  to  Russia,  and  ceded  a  portion  of  the  Caucasus. 
True,  some  of  the  Danube  provinces  were  regained,  but  this 
was  of  comparatively  little  moment.  Another  peace,  that  of 
Jassy,  signalized  an  additional  step  in  the  same  downward 
direction.  Constantly  there  were  increasing  disorders  in  ad¬ 
ministration.  The  Sultans  were  less  and  less  men  of  ability, 
dominated  by  the  Janissaries  or  by  the  ecclesiastics,  and 
Turkey  became  the  football  of  the  various  striies  for  pre¬ 
dominance  in  Europe. 

The  present  century  opened  with  another  war  with  Russia, 
when  the  latter  invaded  the  Danubian  principalities,  taking 
advantage  of  a  revolt  of  the  Servians. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Turkey  and  Europe. 

First  Intercourse — Alliance  between  Francis  I  and  Suleiman  the  Magnificent — Intrigues 
between  France  and  Austria — The  hirst  Treaty — Nature  of  Capitulations — Peculiar 
Favors  Granted  to  the  French — Their  Recognition  as  the  Protectors  of  Christians — 
Entrance  of  Other  Powers — Louis  XIV  and  His  Ambassador — Influence  of  De  Braves 
— Peace  of  Carlowitz — Turkey  No  Longer  Dreaded  in  Europe. 

INTERCOURSE  between  Turkey  and  the  European  powers 
commenced  with  the  first  invasion  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula, 
but  there  were  no  formal  relations  until  a  Russian  ambas¬ 
sador  entered  Constantinople  in  1495.  That,  however,  was 
not  followed  by  important  consequences,  and  Turkey  did  not 
commence  its  career  of  European  influence  until  the  time  of 
Francis  I,  of  France,  about  1525.  The  French  monarch 
found  himself  in  a  very  difficult  situation.  The  house  of 
Austria  had  surrounded  him,  excluding  him  from  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean;  not  only  that,  allied  with  Venice,  she  thus  controlled 
the  Adriatic,  possessed  Oran  and  theoretically  the  whole 
northern  coast  of  Africa  ;  while  her  relations  with  Spain  made 
her  mistress  of  Barcelona,  Naples  and  Sicily.  France  seemed 
to  be  shut  out  entirely  from  Mediterranean  power.  It 
was  absolutely  necessary  for  her  at  any  price  to  find  some 
counterpoise  ;  to  oppose  to  Austria  some  other  power,  which 

should  perhaps  by  its  own  force,  perhaps  in  alliance,  enable 

(183) 


THE  LILIES  AND  THE  CRESCENT. 


184 

her  to  regain  her  legitimate  influence  in  the  Mediterranean 
and  her  commercial  relations  to  the  countries  of  the  Levant. 
It  is  scarcely  surprising  that  France  looked  with  longing  eyes 
to  the  Turks.  Suleiman  the  Magnificent  was  at  the  height  of 
his  power  and  the  foundation  of  his  kingdom  seemed  impreg¬ 
nable.  His  armies  were  attacking  Hungary,  his  ships  held  , 
the  Adriatic  and  the  Black  Seas ;  he  could  by  no  possibility 
come  into  rivalry  with  France;  each  had  the  same  enemies; 
both  were  united  by  the  same  needs  of  commerce,  and  both 
had  a  warlike  reputation  to  sustain.  True,  Suleiman  was  a 
Moslem  and  Francis  I  a  Christian,  and  when  the  alliance  be¬ 
tween  them  became  known  there  arose  a  general  clamor 
against  the  “  impious  union  of  the  Lilies  with  the  Crescent.” 
Whatever  Francis  thought,  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  he 
looked  upon  the  Turkish  power  as  likely  to  spread  much 
farther  west,  and  planned  to  use  it  as  a  weapon,  which,  after  a 
time,  he  might  lay  aside.  For  some  time  messengers  had 
been  passing  back  and  forth  making  full  inquiry  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  Ottoman  rule,  and  secret  negotiations  had 
been  entered  into  with  the  Sultan  for  the  protection  of  French 
commerce.  It  was  therefore  no  matter  of  surprise  that  he 
sent  an  ambassador,  who  was,  however,  arrested  and  mur¬ 
dered  on  the  way.  A  second  was  sent  who  carried  a  letter 
purporting  to  request  the  furtherance  of  the  attack  upon 
Hungary  and  proposing  to  use  counter  influence  on  the  other 
side  of  the  continent.  This  second  envoy  was  received  with 
oreat  honors,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Francis  was 
then  in  captivity,  the  Sultan  expressed  his  royal  determina¬ 
tion  to  enter  into  alliance  with  the  French  king,  the  token  of 
which  was  a  letter  written  in  1526.  This  was  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  those  alliances  which  for  the  succeeding  300  years, 


FOREIGN  ALLIANCES. 


185 

with  differing  degrees  of  fidelity,  were  kept  up,  and 
proved  of  great  value  to  France  and  of  no  little  support  to 
Turkey.  Five  years  later  came  the  reception  of  a  special 
ambassador.  Extraordinary  honors  were  accorded  to  him 
such  as  have  been  given,  it  is  said,  to  no  Christian  ambassador 
succeeding  him.  That  these  should  be  permitted  by  the 
Sultan’s  subjects  is  attributed  by  Turkish  historians  to  a 
report  that  made  Mohammed  II,  the  Conqueror  of  Constan¬ 
tinople,  the  child  of  a  princess  of  the  royal  family  of  France; 
intended  to  be  the  bride  of  Emperor  John  IV,  but  who  had 
been  taken  captive  in  1428.  Austria  at  the  same  time  sent 
an  ambassador,  but  he  could  by  no  means  secure  the  same 
treatment  as  his  French  associate.  He,  however,  succeeded 
in  securing  the  first  peace  concluded  between  the  two  govern¬ 
ments,  in  1533.  The  check  given  by  Charles  V  to  the 
advance  of  the  Ottoman  power  along  the  African  coast  made 
him  appear  to  the  world  as  the  liberator  of  the  Christians 
and  the  terror  of  the  infidels,  and  gave  him  such  prestige 
that  Francis  felt  obliged  to  get  all  the  advantage  possible  out 
of  his  alliance.  Accordingly  the  official  envoy  met  the  Sul¬ 
tan  and  a  treaty  was  signed  at  Constantinople,  in  153d.  This 
was  in  the  form  of  what  is  known  as  a  Hatti  Sherif,  or  an 
order  from  the  Sultan  which  was  the  basis  of  all  the  treaties 
that  have  been  concluded  since  that  period  between  Turkey 
and  the  European  nations.  While  substantially  a  treaty,  it 
took  the  form  of  a  concession,  and  from  this  has  arisen  the 
word  “  Capitulation  ”  which  has  become  recognized  in  all 
Turkish  history  as  governing  the  relations  between  the  Turks 
and  Christians.  It  has  always  been  contrary  to  the  idea  of 
the  Moslem  that  a  treaty  can  be  made  with  Christians  ;  con¬ 
cessions  (capitulations)  can  be  granted,  and  this  is  what  has 


i86 


TREATY  PROVISIONS. 


repeatedly  been  done  in  the  diplomatic  relations  between  the 
empires. 

This  first  treaty  is  extremely  interesting.  In  it  Suleiman 
gives  to  Francis  I  the  title  of  Padisha ,  looked  upon  as  sacred 
by  the  Turks,  and  it  is  said  only  accredited  to  one  other 
Christian  monarch,  the  Czar  Paul,  of  Russia.  The  first 
articles  were  as  follows : 

1.  That  as  there  is  peace  and  concord  between  the  Grand 
Seignior  and  the  King  of  France,  their  respective  subjects 
and  tributaries  may  freely  navigate  and  go  into  their  different 
ports  for  their  commerce,  buy,  sell,  load,  conduct,  and  trans¬ 
port,  by  water  or  by  land,  from  one  country  to  another,  all 
kinds  of  merchandise  not  prohibited,  in  paying  the  ordinary 
dues,  without  being  subjected  to  any  imposition,  tribute,  or 
other  charge. 

2.  That  when  the  king  shall  send  to  Constantinople,  or  to 
any  other  part  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  a  consul,  in  like 
manner  as  the  one  he  keeps  at  Alexandria,  that  consul  shall 
be  accepted  and  sustained  in  his  authority  and  shall  judge 
according  to  his  faith  and  law,  without  that  any  judge  or  cadi 
shall  hear,  judge,  and  pronounce,  as  well  civilly  as  criminally, 
upon  the  causes,  processes,  or  differences  which  may  arise, 
between  the  subjects  of  the  king  only ;  and  that  the  officers 
of  the  Giand  Seignior  shall  lend  assistance  for  the  execution 
of  the  judgments  of  the  consuls,  any  sentence  passed  by  the 

cadis  between  French  merchants  to  be  necessarily  null  and 
void. 

3.  That  in  case  of  any  civil  contestation  between  the  Turks 
and  the  French,  the  plaint  of  the  first  named  shall  not  be 
received  by  the  cadis  unless  they  should  bring  proof  in  writ¬ 
ing  of  the  hand  of  the  adversary  or  that  of  the  consul,  and 


TREATY  STIPULATIONS  CONTINUED.  187 

that  in  any  case  the  subjects  of  the  king  shall  not  be  judged 
without  their  dragoman  being  present. 

4.  That  in  criminal  matters  the  subjects  of  the  king  may 
not  be  brought  before  the  cadi  or  ordinary  judge,  nor  be 
judged  at  once,  but  be  conducted  before  the  Sublime  Porte, 
and  in  the  absence  of  the  Grand  Vizier,  before  his  substitute, 
in  order  that  the  testimony  of  the  Turkish  subject  against  the 
king’s  subject  may  be  discussed. 

5.  That  no  use  shall  be  made  of  the  merchant  ships 
belonging  to  the  king’s  subjects,  nor  of  their  artillery,  muni¬ 
tions  and  equipages  against  their  will,  even  for  the  service  of 
the  Grand  Seignior. 

6.  That  if  any  subject  of  the  king  quits  the  States  of  the 
Grand  Seignior  without  having  satisfied  his  debts,  neither  the 
consul  nor  any  other  Frenchman  shall  be  responsible  for 
them;  but  the  king  shall  make  satisfaction  to  the  plaintiff 
upon  the  goods  or  person  of  the  debtor,  should  it  be  in  his 
kingdom. 

o 

7.  That  the  French  merchants  and  subjects  of  the  king 
shall  freely  make  their  wills,  and  that  the  goods  of  those  who 
shall  die  intestate  shall  be  remitted  to  the  heir  by  the  care 
and  authority  of  the  consul. 

The  importance  of  these  articles  is  very  evident.  Theoret¬ 
ically  there  could  be  no  cordial  relations  whatever  between 
Christians  and  Moslems.  The  more  enlightened  judgment, 
however,  that  had  already  recognized  the  necessity  of  a 
modus  vive?idi  with  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Sultan, 
recognized  now  also  a  similar  necessity  in  connection  with  the 
great  states  to  the  west  with  which  the  Sultan  must  come 
into  relation,  but  which  he  could  not  hope  to  conquer,  at  least 
for  some  time  to  come.  Thus  there  was  introduced  the 


i88 


TREATY  RESULTS. 


important  innovation  in  the  law  of  nations,  since  developed 
into  the  principle  of  extraterritoriality,  and  recognized  in  all 
treaties  between  Christian  nations  and  Moslem  or  pagan 
governments,  where  the  habits  of  life,  the  national  customs 
and  general  laws  are  of  necessity  very  different.  This 
treaty  gave  to  the  French  the  advantage  of  their  national 
laws  and  customs  even  under  foreign  rule  ;  recognized  that 
in  certain  respects  they  had  more  rights  and  liberties  even 
than  the  Sultan’s  subjects  had,  by  acknowledging  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  their  national  magistrates.  As  was  inevitable,  out  of 
this  came  the  development  of  small  French  colonies  centered 
about  the  mercantile  houses  ;  consuls  also  lost  largely  their 
commercial  character  and  became  civil  magistrates  and  even 
political  agents.  It  is  probably  to  this  treaty  that  is  due  the 
fact  that  to-day  all  foreigners  are  classed  under  the  general 
term  of  “  Franks,”  which  has  also  been  applied  even  to  many 
of  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Sultan. 

But  there  were  other  articles  of  this  famous  treaty  of  great 
importance.  The  French  were  guaranteed  the  absolutely 
free  exercise  of  worship.  Their  bishops  and  other  priests  of 
this  “Frank”  religion,  of  whatever  nation,  were  to  be  left 
undisturbed  wherever  they  dwelt,  provided  they  kept  within  the 
bounds  of  their  condition.  Thus,  by  an  easy  extension,  France 
secured  the  right  of  protection  over  all  Catholics  in  the  East, 
and  thus  over  the  holy  places  in  Palestine,  as  well  as  over 
all  the  edifices  of  the  Church.  More  than  this,  the  French 
flag  became  the  protection  for  European  merchants  of  other 
governments  not  allied  to  the  Porte  by  treaties,  and,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  every  Christian  nation  was  obliged  to  seek 
the  protection  of  the  French  king  in  its  trade  with  Turkey. 
A  third  condition  was  the  liberation  of  slaves,  and  the  Sultan, 


t  <  i 


A  GREAT  EVENT. 


189 

on  his  side,  agreed  not  to  enslave  the  French,  while  the  King 
of  France  granted  the  same  privilege  with  regard  to  Otto¬ 
mans.  The  signing  of  this  treaty  was  in  many  respects  the 
most  significant  event  in  Turkish  history.  Probably  without 
any  realization  of  its  ultimate  results,  the  greatest  Sultan  that 
Turkey  ever  had  voluntarily  placed  limits  upon  his  relation 
with  Christians,  and  laid  down  the  principles  which  have 
governed  Turkey  in  her  foreign  treaties  ever  since. 

Previous  to  this  time  the  only  treaties  between  the  Otto¬ 
mans  and  European  powers  had  been  certain  commercial 
treaties  with  Venice.  These  had  dated  from  the  first  incur¬ 
sions  of  the  Turks  into  Europe,  and  in  them  Venice  was 
placed  upon  the  footing  of  a  vassal  and  tributary  of’  the 
Sultan.  This  was  done  as  early  as  1408,  and  tribute  varying 
from  1,600  to  10,000  ducats  was  paid  at  different  times  until 
the  capture  of  Constantinople,  when  peace  was  purchased  by 
an  annual  tribute  of  36,000  ducats  and  the  sending  of  a  rep¬ 
resentative  to  Constantinople,  whom  the  Turks  regarded  and 
treated  as  a  hostage. 

c> 

The  alliance  between  Turkey  and  France  went  through 
various  stages.  At  first  Francis  I  seemed  not  quite  to  realize 
the  whole  bearing  of  his  alliance  with  the  Turk,  and  sought 
to  come  to  terms  with  Charles  V.  The  conditions,  however, 
were  not  acceptable,  and  the  result  was  a  new  alliance,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  fact  that  the  ambassador  who  was  charged 
with  the  duty  of  securing  the  alliance  was  assassinated  on  the 
way.  Undoubtedly  at  times  the  French  king  was  very 
anxious,  for  his  new  allies  seemed  to  have  as  much  desire  for 
the  French  coast  as  for  that  of  Spain.  Still,  they  were 
essential  almost  to  his  very  existence,  and  he  maintained 
terms  of  harmony.  After  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 


190 


NEW  PRIVILEGES. 


however,  the  alliance  was  merely  political.  It  had  been 
entered  upon  on  the  part  of  the  French  in  order  to  limit  the 
house  of  Austria  ;  on  the  part  of  Turkey  for  the  purpose  of 
attacking  more  easily  the  countries  of  Europe.  The  end  of 
the  former  was  obtained  by  a  treaty,  which  suspended  the 
struggle  with  Austria  for  nearly  a  century  ;  and  the  latter 
found  itself  barred  by  Hungary,  Italy  and  Spain.  The  next 
was  a  renewal,  on  the  part  of  Suleiman’s  successor,  of  the 
capitulations  already  made,  but  with  certain  modifications 
rendered  necessary  by  the  developing  hostility  of  Turks  for 
Christians.  New  privileges  were  also  added.  Every  French¬ 
man  settled  in  the  country  was  perpetually  exempted  from 
the  capitation  tax;  French  officers  were  allowed  to  search  for 
French  slaves  seized  by  Mussulmans,  and  to  demand  punish¬ 
ment  for  those  who  stole  or  captured  them  ;  the  Sultan  also 
engaging  to  make  restitution  for  such  acts  of  piracy.  French 
ships  were  treated  kindly,  and  given  assistance  in  case  of 
running  aground  on  the  shores  of  Turkey,  and  the  persons 
and  effects  of  those  who  were  ship-wrecked  were  to  be  re¬ 
spected.  The  most  important  of  all,  perhaps,  was  the  fact 
that  the  French  enjoyed  to  the  full  the  privileges  which  the 
Venetians  secured  only  through  payment  of  tribute.  The  re¬ 
sult  was  that  France  was  mistress  of  the  commerce  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  she  improved  the  opportunity,  so  as  to 
establish  Catholic  missions  with  the  consent  of  the  Sultan, 
and  convents  were  located  even  in  Constantinople.  At  about 
this  time  (1569)  Turkey  and  Russia  first  measured  their  mili¬ 
tary  strength,  and  Turkey  was  driven  back  from  the  Don, 
and  a  scheme  for  a  ship  canal,  which  should  connect  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  Caspian  by  the  Sea  of  Azof  and  the  Don 
and  V olga,  was  stopped. 


FURTHER  ENLARGED. 


191 

A  few  years  later,  in  1577,  these  privileges  were  enlarged, 
so  that  France  was  acknowledged  the  protector  of  very 
nearly  all  Europeans  who  sought  to  reach  the  Levant.  Her 
ambassadors  had  precedence  of  those  of  other  Christian 
lands,  and  especially  of  Spain,  while  Englishmen,  Portuguese 
and  some  others  were  dependant  upon  the  French  flag  for 
protection.  England,  however,  was  unwilling  to  rest  in  this 
situation,  and  the  first  ambassador  sent  by  Elizabeth  to  the 
Porte  obtained  capitulations  analogous  to  those  of  France, 
but  limited  to  commerce.  He  also  sought  Turkish  aid  against 
Spain,  as  France  had  against  Austria,  but  with  less  of  success, 
the  Sultan  caring  less  about  the  Spaniards,  who  were  far 
away,  than  the  Austrians,  who  were  near  at  hand.  Russia 
also  in  1786  sent  ambassadors  with  rich  presents,  and  it  was 
scarcely  surprising  that  the  Ottomans  were  greatly  exalted  by 
their  victories.  Poland  solicited  the  arrangement  of  treaties ; 
Venice  congratulated  the  Sultan  upon  his  success  over  the 
Germans  ;  the  English  ambassador  accompanied  him  in  per¬ 
son  in  his  campaign,  and  France  reconfirmed  her  alliance. 
It  was  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  that  France  was 
represented  at  Constantinople  by  Savary  de  Breves,  who  did 
for  France  what  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  did  later  for 
England.  By  the  shrewdest  means  he  gained  such  influence 
that  a  Turkish  historian  says: 

“  It  very  nearly  happened  that  in  the  house  of  Islam  a  veri¬ 
table  enthusiasm  was  declared  for  France  by  the  secret  deal¬ 
ings  of  its  accursed  ambassador.” 

That  influence  was  powerful  in  many  ways.  It  prevented 
the  conversion  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  into  a 
Mosque ;  turned  aside  the  Sultan’s  anger  from  the  island  of 
Scio  ;  protected  the  Christian  churches  in  Constantinople  from 


ADVANTAGES  TO  OTHER  POWERS. 


192 

the  attack  of  the  Janissaries,  but  found  even  then  that  English 
influence  was  not  easy  to  overcome.  The  British  ambassador 
had  succeeded  in  persuading  the  Porte  that  other  nations, 
which  had  hitherto  come  under  French  auspices,  might  enjoy 
the  same  privileges  under  the  English  flag.  Other  powers 
also  trained  advantages:  Poland  secured  capitulations,  as  also 
the  Republic  of  Venice;  and  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Low 
Countries  obtained  for  the  first  time,  in  1612,  a  treaty  similar 
to  those  which  France  and  England  enjoyed.  The  use  they 
made  of  this  was  characteristic.  The  Dutch  introduced  the 
use  of  tobacco  into  the  empire.  In  vain  did  the  priesthood 
try  to  oppose  the  innovation;  the  soldiers  and  common  people 
rose  against  them  and  they  were  compelled  to  revoke  their 
decision. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  defense  that  De  Breves  made 
of  the  alliance  between  France  and  Turkey  against  the  scru¬ 
ples  of  his  own  countrymen,  and  the  declamations  of  others, 
who  made  this  the  basis  of  an  accusation  of  treason  against 
Christianity.  Not  only,  he  said,  were  the  commercial 
advantages  very  great,  and  the  political  prestige  most  valua¬ 
ble,  but  Christianity  itself  was  greatly  advanced,  inasmuch  as 
it  appropriated  every  sort  of  merchandise  to  be  gathered 
from  the  East,  and  was  enriched  by  the  accruing  wealth.  He 
also  dwelt  upon  the  preservation  of  the  Christian  name  and 
of  the  “  Catholic  religion.”  This  is  stated  somewhat  more 
fully  in  another  chapter. 

French  influence,  however,  suffered  after  the  time  of  De 
Breves  considerable  change.  This  was  due  primarily  to  the 
fact  that  the  general  policy  of  the  Sublime  Porte  toward  the 
European  Governments  was  no  longer  that  of  war,  but  of 
peace,  so  that  this  alliance  was  open  to  all.  The  entrance  of 


A  SERIES  OF  INTRIGUES. 


*93 


other  ambassadors  brought  other  influences,  and  nations  hos¬ 
tile  to  France  used  the  ignorance  of  the  Turks  to  further  their 
own  ends.  So  also  France  found  Turkey  of  less  use  than 
formerly,  finding  surer  and  less  dangerous  allies  in  the  Prot¬ 
estants  of  Germany.  Other  reasons  were  the  weakness  of 
the  Ottoman  Sultans,  and  also  the  weakness  of  the  French 
ambassadors;  the  former  paid  no  attention  to  the  capitula¬ 
tions,  claiming  that  they  were  under  no  obligations  to  keep 
their  word  with  Christians;  the  latter,  ignorant  of  the  religion, 
laws  and  customs  of  the  Ottomans,  had  no  knowledge  of 
when  to  waive  their  peculiar  prejudices,  and  when  to  insist 
upon  the  preservation  of  their  rights.  This  was  especially 

noticeable  during  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  had  its  results  in  serious  losses  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  the  general  cause  of  Christians  in  the  empire. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV  was  a  continued  series  of  intrigues, 
demands  for  renewals  of  treaties,  recriminations  against  the 
bad  faith  of  the  Ottomans,  support  now  of  the  Venetians  and 
then  of  the  Turks;  until,  in  1670,  a  more  skilful  ambassador 
than  France  had  sent  at  any  time  since  De  Breves,  secured 
special  favors.  The  customs  duty  was  reduced,  the  King  of 
France  recognized  as  the  unique  protector  of  the  Catholics 
of  the  East,  and  above  all,  French  merchandise  coming  from 
India  given  the  through  passage  by  the  Red  Sea  and  across 
Egypt.  The  French  ambassador  regarded  Egypt  as  the  true 
route  to  India,  and  after  much  negotiation  and  many  threats, 
in  1673  the  new  treaty  was  signed.  True,  the  question  of 
through  passage  to  India  was  not  mentioned,  but  private 
arrangements  with  the  Pasha  of  Egypt  secured  that  favor. 
The  treaty,  however,  was  not  destined  to  have  great  results. 
Henceforward  the  policy  of  France  was  not  to  advance  in 


I94 


THE  HOLY  ALLIANCE. 


cordial  relations  with  her  Turkish  ally.  She  laid  down  her 
arms  when  Turkey  commenced  war,  and  Turkey  made  peace 
as  soon  as  France  entered  upon  a  campaign.  The  result 
was  evident  in  the  development  of  the  house  of  Austria,  and 
the  establishment  of  the  power  of  Russia.  In  marked  con¬ 
trast  to  the  course  of  France  was  that  taken  by  the  Poles. 
Already  reference  has  been  made  to  the  effort  of  Louis  XIV 
to  secure  the  alliance  of  Sobieski  and  allow  the  Turkish  Gov¬ 
ernment  free  course  in  its  effort  to  overpower  Austria,  and  to 
the  Pole’s  noble  defense  of  Austria  as  the  greatest  Christian 
barrier  to  the  spread  of  the  Moslem  power.  One  result  of 
this  action  was  the  establishment  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  when 
Austria,  Poland,  and  Venice  commenced  the  war  against  the 
Sultan,  which  ended  only  in  the  peace  of  Carlowitz,  which  had 
this  chief  result — that  Turkey  was  no  longer  an  isolated  power, 
but  closely  bound  to  the  interests  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Russia  and  Turkey. 

Aggression  of  Peter  the  Great — Diminution  and  Renewal  of  French  Influence — The  Con¬ 
test  ove.-  the  Holy  Places — Victory  of  Russian  Influence  in  Favor  of  the  Greek  Church — 
Russia’s  Religious  Propaganda  Among  the  Greeks — Rise  of  Phil-Hellenism — Dismem¬ 
berment  Talked  of — Effect  of  the  French  Revolution — The  Russian  Fleet  in  the  Dar¬ 
danelles — The  English  Fleet  at  Constantinople — Peace  of  Tilsit — Plan  for  Partition — 
Accession  of  Mahmud  II. 

FROM  the  Peace  of  Carlowitz  the  history  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  is  involved  with  that  of  Europe  to  a  degree 
hitherto  unknown.  Ihe  varied  schemes  of  ambitious  rulers, 
the  influences  of  popular  movements,  were  felt  even  across  the 
Bosporus,  and  Turkey  becoming  no  longer  an  Asiatic  but  a 
European  power,  found  itself  in  a  situation  singularly  incon¬ 
gruous.  There  was  all  the  old  Ottoman  pride,  which  had  its 
sharpest  illustration  in  the  custom  of  throwing  European 
ambassadors  into  the  prison  at  the  Seven  Towers  whenever  * 
there  was  danger  of  hostilities,  and  there  was  also  that 
recognition  of  commercial  relations  and  need  which  militated 
so  sharply  against  the  former  as  to  inevitably  result  in  the 
decadence  of  the  following  centuries.  The  eighteenth  cen¬ 
tury  opened  with  considerable  diminution  of  French  influ¬ 
ence  and  with  marked  aggression  on  the  part  of  the  Czar. 

(r95) 


196 


WAR  AND  PEACE. 


Unfortunately  for  Turkey  the  Porte  knew  little  and  cared 
less  about  the  entrance  of  this  last  element,  and  paid  little 
attention  to  the  efforts  made  by  Charles  XII  to  stop  the 
advance  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  battle  of  Pultowa  had  a 
strange  result  in  the  reception  of  the  Swedish  King  by  the 
Sultan  and  the  combination  of  his  efforts  with  those  of  French 
ambassadors  to  secure  an  alliance  against  Russia,  which, 
however,  would  have  failed,  probably,  had  not  the  Russian 
fleet  appeared.  The  embassy  of  the  Czar  to  counteract 
their  efforts  appeared  on  a  squadron  which  entered  from  the 
Black  Sea  and  cast  anchor  before  the  windows  of  the  Seraglio. 

The  following  years  were  a  kaleidoscope  of  war  and  peace, 
treaty  and  aggression  ;  now  with  Russia,  now  with  Venice 
and  Austria,  resulting  in  the  peace  of  Passarowitz,  in  which 
Peter  pledged  himself  not  to  appropriate  any  part  of  Poland 
or  to  meddle  with  the  government  of  its  republic,  but  to  make 
every  effort  to  prevent  the  sovereignty  and  hereditary  suc¬ 
cession  from  being  attached  to  its  crown.  A  second  article 
was  the  securing  of  freedom  for  Russians  and  Turks  to 
travel  and  traffic  in  all  safety  in  each  empire.  Pilgrimages 
to  Jerusalem  were  to  be  subjected  to  no  pecuniary  exactions 
and  Russian  ecclesiastics  throughout  the  East  were  to  remain 
unmolested.  Thus  was  taken  the  first  step  toward  the 
dominating  power  of  Russia  in  the  Holy  Land,  which  has 
since  had  so  great  an  effect.  The  next  step  was  the  alliance 
between  Austria  and  Russia  to  secure  the  ruin  of  Turkey 
notwithstanding  the  alliance  with  France.  Again  treaty  was 
followed  by  war  and  war  by  treaty,  until  by  the  treaty  of 
Belgrade  the  desert  territory  of  Azof  was  to  form  the 
boundary  between  the  two  empires  ;  commerce  on  the  Black 
Sea  was  to  be  free,  with  the  condition,  however,  that  the 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE  from  the  heights  above  Scutari  on  the  Asiatic  shore. 
Immediately  in  front  is  the  harbor  opening  into  the  Golden  Horn  and  the  Bosporus  on  the  right  and  into  the  Sea  of 
Marmora  on  the  left.  The  two  prominent  mosques  in  the  city  are,  on  the  left  hand  Sultan  Achmet,  and  on  the  right  hand 
St.  Sophia.  On  the  extreme  right  is  the  fire  tower.  The  point  of  the  city  is  occupied  by  the  gardens  of  the  Seraglio. 


VIEW  OF  ADRIANOPLE,  IN  EUROPEAN  TURKEY 


TURKEY  AND  SWEDEN. 


T99 

Russians  should  only  employ  Turkish  vessels.  For  this  the 
credit  must  chiefly  be  given  to  the  French  ambassador 
Villeneuve,  who  restored  the  prestige  which  had  fallen  low 
under  the  successors  of  De  Breves. 

The  Frenchman’s  next  victory  was  the  developing  of  a 
treaty  of  friendship  and  commerce  into  a  treaty  of  alliance, 
offensive  and  defensive,  between  the  Porte  and  Sweden,  for 
mutual  support  against  the  aggression  of  Russia.  He  also, 
in  1740,  secured  a  formal  treaty  of  friendship  and  commerce 
between  France  and  the  Porte,  which  has  only  been  renewed 
once  since,  in  1802,  and  which  still  regulates  the  relations  of 
France  with  the  Ottoman  Empire.  In  this  the  precedence 
previously  accorded  to  the  representatives  of  France  was 
renewed  and  new  privileges  given  to  the  French  consuls, 
merchants  and  traders.  A  special  rate  of  duty  was  extended 
to  every  kind  of  merchandise  and  French  proteges,  as  well 
as  Frenchmen  themselves,  even  when  wearing  Oriental  dress, 
were  granted  free  access  to  the  States  of  the  Sultan  without 
payment  of  a  tax.  One  effect  of  this  general  diplomatic 
intrigue  was  to  give  to  Turkey  the  idea  that  its  friendship 
was  sought  on  account  of  its  power,  whereas  as  a  matter  of 
fact  she  had  become  weak  and  was  liable  to  be  overborne 
at  any  time  by  one  power  or  the  other.  This  influenced  her 
to  remain  neutral  during  the  war  of  the  Austrian  succession, 
and  rendered  her  blind  to  the  revelations  of  the  French 
ambassador  as  to  the  encroachments  of  Russia.  That 
government  had  spread  its  fortifications  into  every  territory 
which  had  been  declared  neutral,  by  this  means  cutting  off 
communication  between  the  Turks  and  the  Tartars  of  Southern 
Russia,  as  well  as  usurping  a  considerable  territory.  But  all 
to  no  avail.  The  Ottoman  preferred  peace  and  paid  little 


200 


THE  HOLY  PLACES. 


attention  to  the  steps  that  were  being  taken  against  his 
power. 

Frequent  references  have  been  made  to  the  relation  of  the 
European  governments,  especially  France  and  Russia,  to  the 
Holy  Places  in  Jerusalem.  That  question  became  at  this 
time  a  very  important  one,  and  a  brief  survey  of  the  situation 
will  be  in  place.  The  possession  of  these  places  was  dis¬ 
puted  between  the  Latins,  the  Greeks  and  the  Armenians. 
The  Moslem  law  recognized  no  one  of  them  as  having  ex¬ 
clusive  rights,  but  held  that  each  communion  mig-ht  enter  and 
observe  its  ceremonies.  To  one,  however,  there  was  accorded 
a  certain  primacy,  involved  in  the  keeping  of  the  keys,  re¬ 
pairing  the  edifices,  maintaining  them  at  their  own  cost,  light¬ 
ing  them,  and  having  general  care  for  them.  This  privilege 
was  accorded  primarily  by  the  Porte  to  the  French  ambassa¬ 
dor,  according  to  the  firman  given  in  1564: 

“  The  keys  of  the  doors  of  the  said  place  (the  grotto  in 
which  Jesus  Christ  was  born)  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Franks, 
and  pass  successively  from  one  to  the  other  of  those  among 
them  who  arrive  at  Jerusalem,  and  that,  as  well  before  as 
since  the  taking  of  that  city  by  the  Sultan  Selim  I,  up  to  the 
present  date,  without  having  passed  into  other  hands  than 
theirs.  It  is  they  who  open  to  those  of  the  Mussulmans  or 
of  the  Christians  who  dwell  in,  or  who  come  to  Jerusalem, 
and  who  desire  to  visit  that  place  (the  grotto).  There  is  no 
record  that  they  have  ceased  to  possess  the  said  keys,  nor  that 
any  one  has  contested  with  them  for  their  possession,  and 
has  dispossessed  them  of  the  keys.  They  are  in  constant 
and  uninterrupted  possession  of  them  from  the  most  remote 
times  up  to  the  day  of  the  date  of  the  present  act.  Con¬ 
sequently,  the  under-mentioned  judge  has  confirmed  the  pos- 


RIGHTS  OF  THE  FRANKS. 


201 


session  of  the  keys  of  the  said  places  in  the  hands  of  the 
Frank  nation.” 

Later,  in  1620,  another  firman  has  the  following: 

& 

“The  Franks,  ancient  exclusive  possessors  of  the  Great 
Church  of  Bethlehem  and  the  Church  of  the  Tomb  of  the 
Virgin,  have,  of  their  full  accord,  granted  to  each  of  the  other 
Christian  communions  sanctuaries  in  the  Superior  Church ; 
but  the  inferior  portion,  the  place  wherein  Jesus  Christ  was 
born  (may  salvation  rest  with  him  ! )  is  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Frankish  monks ;  no  other  nation  has  any  right  therein,  and 
it  is  forbidden  to  each  and  every  nation  to  usurp  hereafter  the 
said  place.  .  .  .  We  order  that  no  individual  be  permitted, 
Armenian  or  other,  to  say  mass  in  the  place  where  Jesus 
Christ  was  born,  a  place  situate  underneath  the  Church  of 
Bethlehem,  no  more  than  in  the  cupola,  which  is  called  the 
tomb  of  Jesus  Christ;  neither  in  the  interior  of  the  tomb  of 
the  Holy  Virgin  ;  nor  finally  in  the  sanctuaries  which,  from  the 
old  time,  belonged  to  the  Frankish  monks.” 

In  1633  a  niore  explicit  firman  states: 

•  •  •  “  To-day  the  Frankish  monks  came  to  produce  the 
titles  which  are  in  their  hands.  We  have  examined  them,  and 
have  recognized  that  they  were  ancient  and  authentic  papers. 
They  prove  that  all  the  places  above  mentioned,  as  well  as 
the  possession  of  the  three  doors  of  the  grotto  of  Bethlehem, 
and  the  keys  of  those  doors,  belonged  exclusively  to  the 
Frankish  monks  since  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Calif  Omar,  and  that  at  the  epoch  at  which  Selim  I  made 
himself  master  of  those  Holy  Places,  that  a  large  number  of 
localities  have  remained,  as  before,  in  the  hands  of  the  same 
Frankish  monks.  We  order  that  the  Franks  have,  as 
anciently,  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  grotto  situate 


202 


PRECEDENCE  IN  WORSHIP. 


at  Bethlehem,  and  known  under  the  name  of  the  Crib  of 
Jesus  Christ,  upon  which  the  Greeks  have  seized,  as  it  is  said, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  Frankish  monks,  by  fraud,  and  by 
producing  false  titles ;  that  they  have  the  possession  and  en¬ 
joyment  of  the  keys  of  the  three  doors,  north,  south  and 
west,  of  the  said  grotto,  and  of  two  small  gardens  which 
belong  to  it ;  that  they  may  have  again,  and  in  the  said  man¬ 
ner  which  they  have  had  from  all  time,  the  enjoyment  and 
possession  of  the  stone  of  unction,  situate  in  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  vaults  of  Calvary,  the  seven 
arches  situate  below  Saint  Mary,  the  two  cupolas,  great 
and  small,  which  cover  over  the  tomb  of  Jesus  Christ;  that 
they  may  have,  besides  the  enjoyment  and  possession,  whether 
at  Jerusalem  of  the  tomb  of  St.  Mary  or  monastery  called  Deir- 
al-Amoud,  with  its  belongings  and  dependencies,  or  whether 
in  the  village  Qf  Nazareth,  of  the  churches  and  monasteries; 
in  a  word,  of  all  the  places  of  which,  up  to  the  present  day, 
they  have  had  uncontested  possession  ;  that  henceforth  neither 
the  Greeks  nor  the  Armenians,  nor  any  other  Christian  nation, 
trouble  or  disquiet  them,  or  cause  them  to  be  troubled  or 
disquieted;  .  .  .  that  always,  in  the  said  places,  and  chiefly  in 
Calvary,  the  Frankish  monks  may  exercise  their  worship 
at  their  will  and  as  in  the  past ;  that  they  may  place  therein, 
as  before,  candles  and  torches,  without  any  one  hindering 
them  ;  that  in  the  exercise  of  their  worship,  the  prefect  of  the 
Frankish  monks  have,  as  in  the  past,  precedence  over  all  the 
monks  of  other  nations,  provided  that  they  pay  the  tribute 
desired  by  ancient  custom  (about  ffoo)?' 

Notwithstanding  these,  the  Greeks  succeeded  in  forcibly 
taking  away  the  power  from  the  Latins  within  a  year  after 
this  last  firman,  but  forty  years  later  were  obliged  to  yield. 


CAPITULATIONS  REAFFIRMED. 


203 


Then  followed  a  series  of  intrigues  in  whicn  the  Moslem 
Governors  of  Damascus  and  Jerusalem  were  bribed  bv  one 
party  or  the  other  to  favor  them.  This  resulted  in  1676  in 
giving  to  the  Greeks  the  keys,  carpets  and  lamps  of  the  sanc¬ 
tuaries  on  condition  of  paying  annually  the  rent  of  1000  pias¬ 
ters  for  the  income  of  the  mosque  of  Sultan  Ahmet  in  Con¬ 
stantinople.  In  1690,  however,  this  judgment  was  reversed, 
and  in  1718,  in  the  treaty  of  Belgrade,  the  only  stipulation  by 
Russia  was  that  the  Russians  should  have  the  right  of  making 
pilgrimages  to  Palestine  without  molestation  or  payment  of 
ransom.  The  capitulations  of  1740  solemnly  confirmed  the 
rights  of  France,  and  peace  seemed  established.  But  again, 
1 7  years  later,  some  Greek  pilgrims  pillaged  the  Catholic 
monastry  at  Jaffa,  assailed  the  monks  and  the  Catholics  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  broke  the  lamps  and  scattered 
the  ornaments  ;  and,  then  having  purchased  at  a  heavy  price, 
various  affidavits,  proclaimed  to  the  Turkish  Government  the 
interruption  of  their  worship  by  the  Latins.  They  found 
means  of  securing  the  favor  of  the  Grand  Vizier,  and  a  Hatti 
Sherif  followed,  which  drove  the  Latins  from  the  Church  of 
the  Virgin,  and  from  that  at  Bethlehem,  and  placed  under  the 
special  care  and  protection  of  the  Greeks  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  and  several  other  sanctuaries. 

Russia  s  next  move  was  to  start  a  religious  propaganda  in 
the  Greek  provinces  of  Turkey.  Peter  III  had  sent  zealous 
emissaries  among  them,  one  of  whom,  a  Greek  of  Thessaly, 
an  artillery  officer  in  the  Russian  service,  traversed  the  shores 
of  the  Adriatic,  Thessaly  and  the  Morea;  another,  a  monk,  went 
through  Servia  and  Croatia.  He  said  to  the  Sultan’s  subjects 
that  neither  Germany  or  Hungary  could  do  anything  for  them ; 
France  was  careless,  Poland  helpless;  Russia  alone  cared  for 


204 


PHIL-HELLENISM. 


them,  and  was  willing  to  help  them;  she  alone  belonged  to 
the  ortnodox  church.  Stirred  by  these  harangues,  the  Chris¬ 
tians  of  Albania,  Servia  and  Montenegro  arose,  but  too  early 
for  Russian  movements,  and  the  insurrection  was  of  no  avail. 
The  emissary  to  the  Morea  found  greater  difficulty.  A  bishop 
promised  to  raise  100,000  Greeks  at  the  approach  of  the  Rus¬ 
sians,  but  a  mountain  chief  refused  to  be  seduced  by  flattery 
or  yield  to  the  threats.  He  gloried  in  his  chieftainship  of  a 
free  people,  and  said  to  the  Russian  that  he  was  still  a  slave; 
if  Russia  cared  to  come  as  an  ally,  he  would  take  up  arms  on 
condition  of  the  war  being  pushed  until  the  Turks  were  driven 
out.  ^  A  third  emissary  went  among  the  Rumanian  provinces 
but  the  Moldo-Wallachians  achieved  nothing  more  by  an  in¬ 
surrection  than  the  pillaging  of  a  few  Turkish  villages,  and 
the  only  result  of  the  three  movements  was  to  deprive  the 
Christian  merchants  of  their  wealth,  which  was  sent  to  Con¬ 
stantinople  to  insure  their  loyalty,  and  to  raise  a  suspicion 
against  all  Christians  on  the  part  of  the  Porte.  The  intrigues 
of  Russia,  however,  continued  and  there  was  over  the  whole 
empire  a  sense  of  uneasiness.  The  French  ministers  did 
their  best  to  stir  the  Turks  against  Russia,  but  the  ministry 
were  either  too  weak  or  too  lazy,  and  held  off  for  a  time.  At 
last  war  was  again  declared,  and  the  Empress  Catherine  de¬ 
spatched  her  fleet  from  the  Baltic.  The  French  ambassador 

called  the  Turks  attention  to  this  and  received  in  reply  the 
expression: 

Tell  us  how  ships  can  get  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Con¬ 
stantinople?  ” 

At  the  same  time,  1769*  Voltaire  was  trying  to  stir  the 
spirit  of  Phil-Hellenism,  in  Germany  and  Russia.  Already 
he  urged  the  partition  of  1  urkey  and  the  restoration  of  the 


RUSSIAN  PROTECTORATE. 


205 


Greeks  to  independence.  Fleets  were  fitted  out ;  England 
approved  the  project ;  the  Morea  arose,  but  there  was  no 
general  plan.  The  Russians  withdrew  and  the  Morea  was 
terribly  devastated.  Similar  results  followed  renewed  move¬ 
ments  in  the  Danubian  Principalities  ;  but  the  Turkish  fleet 
was  defeated  at  Tchesmeh  and  the  army  on  the  Danube,  and 
Russia  appeared  predominant.  Then  came  the  mediation  of 
Austria,  and  England  offered  assistance,  which,  however,  was 
refused  by  the  Turks,  partly  under  the  influence  of  France, 
who  was  anxious  to  use  the  newly  developing  disturbances  in 
America  to  help  her  in  her  opposition  to  England.  There 
were  leagues  and  counter-leagues  from  Austria  and  Russia, 
with  bargains  for  Wallachia,  Moldavia,  Bosnia  and  Dalmatia, 
the  Turkish  Government  developing  its  since  famous  prin¬ 
ciple  of  sowing  discord  among  the  European  powers  that 
thereby  it  might  gain  strength. 

The  next  step  of  importance  was  the  Congress  of  Bucha¬ 
rest,  when  the  Czarina  sent  in  her  demands  for  freedom  of 
navigation  in  the  Black  Sea,  in  the  Archipelago  for  ships  of 
war  and  merchant  vessels,  the  right  of  protection  of  the 
Greeks  in  the  Ottoman  Empire,  and  various  other  things,  all 
of  which,  however,  were  indignantly  rejected  by  the  Turks, 
who  went  to  war  and  gained  marked  success.  This,  however, 
was  followed  by  the  treaty  of  Kainardji,  in  1774,  when  Russia 
received  the  protectorate  over  the  Danubian  Provinces,  over 
the  Christians  of  Turkey,  and  was  henceforth  to  be  the 
“  oracle  of  the  diplomatic  negotiations  pursued  by  the  Porte  ; 
the  arbiter  of  peace  or  war,  the  soul  of  the  most  important 
affairs  of  the  empire.”  French  influence  received  a  mortal 
blow  in  gaining  a  rival  in  the  protectorate  of  the  Christians, 
who  by  having  advantage  of  position,  race  and  origin,  could 


20  6 


DANUBIAN  PRINCIPALITIES. 


be  no  longer  baffled.  England,  too,  had  been  made  a 
tool  of  and  her  influence  was  at  a  low  ebb. 

The  Russians  followed  up  their  advantage  by  intriguing 
anew  in  the  Danubian  Provinces,  bu .  came  again  in  contact 
with  Austria,  whom  the  French  king  sought  to  stir  up  to  ex¬ 
tend  her  territory  in  proportion  as  Russia  extended  hers. 
Very  little,  however,  was  gained  and  Russia  secured  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Crimea,  fresh  rights  over  the  Black  Sea, 
and  seemed  in  the  way  to  accomplish  the  project  of  a  new 
Eastern  Empire,  which  had  already  been  set  forth  by  Cathe¬ 
rine.  England  meanwhile  had  her  hands  busy  with  America 
and  paid  little  attention  to  Eastern  affairs  until  her  Western 
task  was  finished,  when  she  again  entered  the  lists,  endeavor¬ 
ing  to  drive  Turkey  to  war  with  Russia.  In  this  she  suc¬ 
ceeded  and  again  came  talk  of  dismemberment.  Russia’s 
advance  along  the  Danube  compelled  England  to  act  more 
positively  in  aid  of  Turkey,  when  the  French  Revolution 
broke  out  and  turned  every  one’s  attention,  except  that  of 
Russia,  away  from  Turkey.  Then  came  the  treaty  of  Jassy, 
in  1792,  when  the  Danubian  Principalities  ceased  to  be  recog¬ 
nized  as  Turkish  Provinces. 

The  first  result  of  the  French  Revolution  was  the  war  of 
the  allied  monarchs  to  restore  the  house  of  Bourbon,  and  in 
this  as  hitherto  entered  the  question  of  Turkey.  England  as 
well  as  the  rest  sought  to  induce  the  Porte  to  break  with 
France,  and  to  this  end  endeavored  to  secure  some  conces¬ 
sions  from  Russia.  The  Porte,  however,  preserved  its  neu¬ 
trality  and  continued  to  extend  its  protection  to  French  com¬ 
mercial  interests.  Its  increasing  weakness,  however,  led 
Europe  to  believe  that  the  empire  was  fast  approaching-  dis¬ 
solution.  This  also  was  the  opinion  of  France,  and  Napoleon, 


napoleon’s  ambition. 


207 

looking  forward  to  taking  a  part  in  dismemberment,  planned 
for  the  leading  part  to  belong  to  himself.  The  French 
ambassador  at  Constantinople  advised  the  renunciation  of 
the  alliance  with  the  Porte  and  the  appropriation  of  the 
provinces  escaping  from  its  rule.  Accordingly,  with  this  came 
the  invasion  of  Egypt  and  the  sudden  disillusion  on  the  part 
of  the  Turks  of  the  value  of  the  French  alliance.  England, 
Russia  and  Austria  profited  by  this  to  arouse  French  opposi¬ 
tion,  and  at  last  war  was  declared,  the  result  of  which  was  the 
ruin  of  French  influence  in  the  Levant  and  an  alliance  between 
the  Porte  and  Russia,  the  admission  of  the  Russian  fleet  into 
the  Dardanelles  and  the  treaty  of  Constantinople,  by  which 
the  two  powers  mutually  guaranteed  each  other’s  possessions, 
including  Egypt.  To  this  Great  Britain  acceded. 

In  the  peace  of  Amiens  England  desired  to  bind  the  Porte 
as  a  contracting  party,  but  Napoleon  persisted  in  a  separate 
peace  with  Turkey,  and  sought  to  gain  favor  by  evacuating 
Egypt  and  restoring  the  original  situation.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  capitulations  of  1740  were  renewed  with  new  articles, 
recognizing  the  incontestable  right  of  French  vessels  in  the 
Black  Sea.  Napoleon’s  ambition  for  Eastern  conquest  con¬ 
tinued,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  peace  of  Amiens  was 
broken  through  the  re-establishment  of  French  relations  with 
Turkey  and  the  refusal  of  England  to  give  up  Malta  and  of 
Russia  to  give  up  the  Ionian  Islands,  where  they  had  placed 
a  garrison.  Then  followed  various  concessions  and  accessions 
accompanied  by  considerable  dread  on  the  part  of  the  Turks 
of  the  new  French  power,  until  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  made 
him  appear  a  most  desirable  ally. 

Meanwhile  the  Turkish  Government  had  so  thoroughly  left 
Servia  to  the  brigands  and  the  Janissaries  that  in  despair 


208 


BRITISH  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


they  resolved  to  strike  for  independence,  and  called  for  the 
protection  and  support  of  Russia.  Similarly  Rumania  thought 
to  lean  upon  France  for  its  independence,  and  the  general 
result  was  a  rupture  of  the  peace  and  the  occupation  by 
Russia  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia.  Napoleon  sent  aid  to  the 
Porte  and  urged  the  fortification  of  the  Straits.  Then  the 
English  ambassador  made  strong  demands,  calling  for  the 
expulsion  of  the  French  ambassador,  the  concession  of  the 
Danubian  Provinces  to  Russia,  the  giving  up  of  the  Turkish 
fleet  to  England,  as  well  as  of  the  forts  and  batteries  of  the  Dar¬ 
danelles,  and  threatened  an  expedition  against  Constantinople. 
Already  the  Russian  fleet  was  at  the  island  of  Tenedos,  when 
it  was  joined  by  the  British  admiral,  who,  taking  advantage 
of  a  favorable  wind  and  a  feast  of  Bairam,  forced  the  passage 
of  the  Dardanelles,  burned  the  Turkish  fleet  near  Gallipoli 
and  anchored  off  the  Princes’  Islands. 

Sharp  conditions  were  sent  demanding  the  dismissal  of 
the  French  ambassador,  the  renewal  of  alliance  between 
England  and  Russia,  free  passage  of  the  straits  and  the  sur¬ 
render  of  the  Turkish  navy.  The  Frenchman,  however,  did 
not  lose  courage.  He  pointed  out  that  the  wind  was  no 
longer  favorable  and  that  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  defend 
the  city.  Encouraging  messages  came  from  Napoleon,  and 
meanwhile  the  English  ambassador,  thinking  himself  secure, 
occupied  himself  with  negotiations  instead  of  taking  action. 
The  result  was  that,  notwithstanding  summons  after  summons 
from  the  fleet,  the  Turkish  defense  was  complete  and  the 
English  ships  had  to  withdraw  through  the  Dardanelles. 
Then  came  the  sudden  deposition  of  Sultan  Selim  by  a 
revolution  of  the  Yamaks,  which  disgusted  Napoleon  and 
undoubtedly  influenced  him  in  arranging  the  peace  of  Tilsit, 


PARTITION. 


209 


which  was  concluded,  to  the  complete  abandonment  of  Turkey 
by  France.  It  was  stipulated  that  hostilities  should  cease 
between  Turkey  and  Russia,  after  an  armistice  concluded  in 
the  presence  of  a  French  commissioner;  but  a  secret  article 
made  still  more  apparent  the  policy  of  France,  in  which  it 
was  declared  that  in  case  the  mediation  of  France  was  not 
accepted  she  would  make  common  cause  with  Russia  against 
the  Ottoman  Porte,  withdraw  all  the  Turkish  provinces,  in 
Europe,  from  its  rule,  with  the  exception  of  Constantinople 
and  province  of  Rumelia.  From  correspondence  it  is 
gathered  that  the  partition  would  have  been  as  follows: 
France  to  have  Bosnia,  Albania,  Epirus,  all  Greece,  Thessaly 
and  Macedonia  ;  Austria  to  have  Servia ;  Russia  to  have 
Wallachia,  Moldavia,  Bulgaria  and  Thrace,  as  far  as  the 
Maritza.  The  French  mediation  was  accepted,  but  definite 
arrangements  could  not  be  secured.  English  intrigues  inter¬ 
rupted,  but  before  any  definite  result  could  be  achieved 
another  Sultan  had  been  deposed  and  Mahmud  II  came  to 
the  throne. 


1 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Mahmud  II. 


A  Disintegrating  Empire— An  Energetic  Sultan— Napoleon  and  Alexander— Lord  Stratford 
de  Redcliffe — Greek  War  for  Independence — Russia’s  Perfidy — Destruction  of  the  Janis¬ 
saries — Reforms  Attempted — Mehemet  Ali  of  Egypt — Accession  of  Abd-ul-Medjid. 


HE  general  situation  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign 


JL  of  Mahmud  II  is  thus  clearly  described  by  Sir  Stratford 
Canning : 

o 

“The  state  of  Turkey  itself  was  anything  but  satisfactory 
in  view  of  those  powers  who  did  not  wish  the  Porte  to  become 
the  prey  either  of  Russia  or  of  France.  Both  morally  and 
materially  the  empire  was  bordering  on  decrepitude.  The 
old  political  system  of  Turkey  had  worn  itself  out.  The  pop¬ 
ulation  was  not  yet  prepared  for  the  new  order  of  things.  A 
depreciated  currency,  a  disordered  revenue,  a  mutinous 
militia,  dilapidated  fortresses,  a  decreasing  population,  a  stag¬ 
nant  industry,  and  general  misrule,  were  the  monuments  which 
time  had  left  of  Ottoman  domination  in  the  second  capital  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  and  throughout  those  extensive  regions 
which  had  been  the  successive  seats  of  civilization,  ever  vary¬ 
ing,  generally  advancing,  from  the  earliest  periods  of  social 
settlement  and  historical  tradition.  A  continual  and  often  a 
sanguinary  antagonism  of  creeds,  of  races,  of  districts  and 


(210) 


A  DECREPIT  EMPIRE. 


2  1 1 


authorities  within  the  frontier,  and  frequent  wars  of  little 
glory  and  much  loss  with  the  neighboring  powers,  had  formed 
of  late  the  normal  condition  of  the  Porte’s  dominions. 

“  Russia,  France,  Austria,  and  even  Persia,  had  by  turns 
contracted  the  area  and  drained  the  resources  of  the  empire. 
From  the  corrupt  monotony  of  his  seraglio,  the  Sultan  had  to 
send  forth  his  firmans,  his  emissaries,  his  bands  of  irregular 
soldiery,  or,  it  might  be,  his  naval  armaments,  against  an  in¬ 
vading  enemy,  a  rebellious  chief,  or  an  armed  insurrection. 
Several  great  families,  several  unsubdued  tribes,  and  here  and 
there  an  overpowerful  pasha,  had  succeeded  in  braving  and 
circumscribing  the  imperial  authority.  The  Mamelukes  still 
prevailed  in  Egypt.  The  most  important  part  of  Syria  was 
under  the  sway  of  a  Christian  Emir.  Ali  Pasha  of  Janina 
exercised  royal  power  in  the  provinces  bordering  on  Greece, 
and  Greece  itself,  excited  by  Russia,  was  preparing  to  burst 
the  fetters  which  had  so  long  bound  her  to  the  Ottoman 
throne.  Servia,  Montenegro,  and  the  Danubian  Principalities 
were  all  more  or  less  in  league  with  Russia,  and  the  Porte,  at 
war  with  that  formidable  power,  had  everything  to  apprehend 
from  the  Russian  forces  concentrated  upon  her  northern 
frontier.  The  Sultan’s  fleet  was  manned  with  Christian 
Greeks  from  the  island  population  of  the  Archipelago  ;  the 
Barbary  Powers  were  scarcely  even  in  nominal  dependence 
on  the  Porte ;  and  a  sect  of  Mohammedans,  called  the  Wah¬ 
habis,  and  having  a  kind  of  analogy  with  our  Puritans,  had 
hoisted  a  separate  standard  of  religious  belief  in  parts  of  ' 
Egypt  and  Arabia.” 

Mahmud  II  was  unquestionably  the  greatest  monarch  of  the 
Osmanli  dynasty  from  Suleiman  the  Magnificent,  1566,  to  his 
enthronement.  He  escaped  assassination  at  the  dethrone- 


212 


NAPOLEON  AND  ALEXANDER. 


ment  of  Mustapha  IV  by  concealment  in  an  old  oven,  and  was 
called  from  dust  and  ashes  to  be  girded  with  the  sword  of 
Osman.  He  was  then,  by  the  death  of  Selim  III  and  Mus¬ 
tapha  IV,  the  only  heir  of  the  throne.  The  Janissaries  killed 
his  faithful  and  able  grand  vizier,  who  was  bent  upon  reform¬ 
ing  them,  but  Mahmud  was  sacred  even  to  them.  He  then 
resolved  upon  their  destruction,  for  sixteen  years  was  slowly 
working  towards  it,  and  then  the  stroke  fell  upon  them  like  a 
thunderbolt,  and  they  were  no  more. 

He  saw  his  empire  going  to  ruin  in  every  possible  direction, 
and  enemies  multiplying  on  every  hand. 

Napoleon  and  Alexander  studied  many  schemes  of  dividing 
up  the  Turkish  Empire,  but  in  every  scheme  Russia  was  to 
have  Constantinople  and  the  Dardanelles,  and  to  this  France 
would  never  agree,  and  the  whole  scheme  of  division  fell 
through.  In  a  few  years  Moscow  was  in  flames  to  drive  out 
Napoleon,  and  France  had  twice  been  occupied  by  foreign 
armies,  while  Constantinople  remained  intact. 

Mahmud  had  plans  of  reform  in  all  departments  of  govern¬ 
ment,  and  he,  first  of  all  the  Sultans  of  his  dynasty,  saw  not 
merely  the  political  necessity  of  friendly  relations  with  the 
Christian  nations,  but  the  advantage  to  his  own  government 
of  modeling  his  army  and  navy  after  them.  In  1809  he  made 
a  treaty  with  England  to  the  disgust  of  the  other  powers.  In 
1810  he  had  many  bloody  battles  with  the  Russians  on  the 
Danube,  in  which  he  lost  Silistriaand  other  valuable  positions. 
But  the  plans  of  Napoleon  troubled  Russia,  and  she  was  glad 
to  make  peace  with  Turkey  and  withdraw  her  forces  for  other 
uses,  giving  up  Silistria  and  other  places. 

By  the  treaty  of  Bucharest,  1812,  Moldavia  and  Wallachia 
were  given  back  to  the  Sultan.  Servia,  also,  after  a  most  de- 


213 


SIR  STRATFORD  CANNING. 

voted  struggle  for  freedom,  was  coldly  surrendered  to  the 
Turks,  who  occupied  the  fortresses  and  renewed  their  tyranny. 
A  Servian  historian  accuses  Russia  of  this  base  abandonment 
for  the  purpose  of  finding,  at  some  future  time,  an  occasion  for 
intervention. 

In  the  treaty  of  Bucharest,  Sir  Stratford  Canning  (quoted 
above),  a  young  man  of  twenty-three,  first  displayed  that  re¬ 
markable  insight  and  skill  which  made  him  during  his  lono- 
career  the  greatest  diplomat  England  has  produced.  France 
was  earnestly  seeking  an  alliance  with  Turkey.  Russia  was 
disposed  to  peace  because  she  had  22,000  of  her  choicest 
troops  on  the  Danube,  which  a  favorable  peace  would  enable 
her  to  withdraw.  Canning  showed  the  Turks  clearly  the 
dangers  they  would  incur  by  mingling  in  the  contests  of 
France  and  Russia.  All  parties  acknowledged  the  consum¬ 
mate  skill  with  which  he  cleared  away  objections  and  effected 
a  treaty  useful  to  Turkey,  Russia  and  England. 

The  embarrassment  of  the  Sultan  increased  on  every  side, 
and  his  reign  became  a  struggle  for  existence  rather  than  for 
reform.  The  rebellious  Janissaries  were  always  a  thorn  in 
his  side,  but  in  Egypt  the  Mamelukes  were  far  worse  than  the 
Janissaries.  The  Wahabites  had  raised  a  powerful  insurrec¬ 
tion  in  Arabia  and  would  dominate  the  sacred  cities.  Greece 
was  also  threatening  rebellion,  but,  worst  of  all,  England, 
France,  Austria  and  Russia  were  pressing  upon  him  conflict¬ 
ing  claims  which  might  result  in  war.  The  Ulema,  the  whole 
power  of  the  Mosques,  were  against  all  reforms,  all  innova¬ 
tions,  and  they  backed  up  the  Janissaries  in  their  rebellions. 
He  faced  all  his  enemies  with  unflinching  resolution.  He 
committed  to  Mehemet  Ali  of  Egypt  the  work  of  subduing  the 
Mamelukes  and  Wahabites.  He  performed  his  work  with  an 


214 


UPRISING  OF  THE  GREEKS. 


energy  and  success  that  amazed  the  world.  The  Sultan  soon 
understood  that  if  two  enemies  had  been  destroyed,  one  had 
come  forward  more  powerful  and  dangerous  than  the  two, 
one  who  was  destined  to  wreck  the  empire  but  for  the  inter¬ 
vention  of  Europe. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  famous  hetczria  arose,  an 
association  destined  to  have  great  influence  among  the  Greeks, 
and  to  play  an  important  part  in  Greek  independence.  The 
Greeks,  like  most  of  the  Christians  under  Turkish  rule, 
accepted  that  authority  so  long  as  it  did  not  affect  their 
religion  and  general  customs.  Certain  ones,  however,  proved 
recalcitrant.  Some  mountaineers  took  refuge  in  the  rough 
country  back  from  the  coast  of  the  Archipelago,  and  rivaled 
the  bandits  of  Macedonia,  Servia  and  Sicily.  Others  turning 
to  commerce,  sought  to  get  the  better  of  their  Moslem  rulers 
by  shrewdness  of  intellect.  They  profited  by  the  struggle  in 
the  Mediterranean  between  France  and  England,  and  under 
cover  of  the  Turkish  flag  acquired  great  commercial  strength, 
owning,  in  1815,  600  vessels.  They  sent  their  children  abroad, 
and  established  schools  everywhere  on  the  Islands  of  the 
Archipelago,  in  Asia  Minor  and  even  in  Constantinople.  A 
few  of  these  men  joined  in  a  company  called  the  hetczria ,  or 
association,  founded  for  the  purpose  of  propagating  religious 
instruction  and  the  publication  of  religious  books.  They 
claimed  to  have  the  support  of  the  Prime  Minister  of  Russia, 
and  secured  the  alliance  of  the  chief  brigands  of  the  Pindus, 
the  head  men  of  the  interior  Greek  communities,  the  merchants 
of  the  Archipelago  and  the  heads  of  the  Mainotes  of  the 
Morea  who  had  proved  impervious  to  Russian  advances. 
Their  one  object  was  the  independence  of  Greece,  and  they 


THE  LION  OF  JANINA. 


215 


seized  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  revolt  of  the  famous 
Ali  Pasha  of  Janina  to  make  a  strike  for  that  independence. 

Ali  Pasha,  who  had  long  had  more  or  less  intimate  relations 
with  these  Greeks,  summoned  them  to  his  aid  and  proclaimed 
himself  their  protector.  They  hesitated,  but  influenced  by 
the  report  that  the  Turkish  Government  had  decided  upon 
the  extermination  of  the  Christians,  joined  hands  with  the 
Albanians,  and  Marco  Bozzaris  became  the  ally  of  the  “  Lion 
of  Janina.”  In  1826  came  the  outrages  at  Patras  and  Seres, 
and  soon  there  was  insurrection  from  the  Danube  to  the 
Gulf  of  Corinth.  Russia  again  failed  the  very  people  who 
relied  upon  her,  the  Sultan’s  Government  decreed  the  dis¬ 
armament  and  massacre  of  the  Greeks,  hung  the  Patriarch  at 
the  door  of  his  palace  in  Constantinople,  and  on  Easter  Day 
three  archbishops,  and  eighty  bishops,  exarchs  and  archiman¬ 
drites  shared  his  fate.  Through  Thrace,  Macedonia  and  Thes¬ 
saly  the  massacre  spread,  peaceable  and  defenseless  Greeks 
were  pillaged  or  slain,  churches  were  destroyed,  and  women  and 
children  were  dragged  into  slavery.  In  Greece,  however,  and 
in  Albania,  Ali  Pasha  and  Ypsilanti  held  the  Turks  in  check, 
captured  several  places,  and  retorted  upon  the  Moslems  the 
terrors  of  massacre.  Then  came  treason,  and  Ali  Pasha  fell, 
but  Greece  refused  to  yield.  The  Turks  in  fury  avenged 
themselves  on  Scio,  which  had  taken  no  part  in  the  insurrec¬ 
tion,  and  out  of  100,000  inhabitants  scarcely  900  were  left. 
It  was  scarcely  surprising  that  reprisals  followed  such  a  mas¬ 
sacre,  but  the  utmost  done  by  them  was  little  in  comparison 
with  the  atrocities  which  the  Christians  of  the  whole  empire 
had  endured. 

The  insurrection  went  on.  Appeals  were  made  to  the 

Christian  nations  of  Europe,  and  delegates  sent  to  a  Congress 
13 


21 6 


PHIL-HELLENISM. 


which  met  at  Verona.  The  great  purpose  of  that  Congress 
being,  however,  to  stifle  the  insurrections  of  Italy  and  Spain, 
it  could  hardly  be  expected  to  help  Greece.  They  even 
invited  the  Sultan  to  membership  in  the  Congress.  Every¬ 
where,  however,  there  was  popular  enthusiasm.  In  France, 
England,  and  Germany,  societies  of  Phil-hellenes  were  formed, 
and  America  lifted  her  voice  in  support  of  this  effort  for  free¬ 
dom.  Many  arms  and  munitions  were  sent  to  the  aid  of  the 
Greeks,  and  many  men  came  to  share  their  fortunes,  Lord 
Byron,  Colonel  Fabvier,  Count  Rosa  and  others.  The  Greeks, 
however,  could  not  agree  among  themselves,  and  internal 
dissensions,  including  even  war,  prevented  their  securing  the 
results  of  their  victories.  The  Turks  profited  by  their  mis¬ 
fortunes,  and  weakened  the  power  of  the  Greeks  till  Misso- 
longhi  fell  and  Athens  and  Nauplia  alone  remained.  The 
Greeks  were  almost  disheartened,  and  turned  to  England  for 
help.  What  Sir  Stratford  Canning  felt  is  evident  from  the 
following  extract  from  his  Memoirs. 

“  In  the  port  of  Ipsera  we  gathered  cruel  evidence  of  what 
war  is  when  kindled  by  the  antipathies  of  race  and  creed.  It 
was  little  more  than  dawn  when  we  anchored  before  the 
town.  The  houses  had  every  appearance  of  undisturbed 
repose,  and  the  early  hour  sufficed  to  account  for  the  want  of 
movement  in  the  streets.  The  admiral’s  steward  went  ashore 
with  the  full  expectation  of  finding  a  market  well  stocked 
with  all  the  objects  he  required.  Imagine  his  surprise  when 
the  truth  broke  upon  him.  A  death-silence  indoors  as  well 
as  without,  not  a  voice,  not  a  footstep,  not  an  inhabitant;  the 
town  was  a  mere  shell,  plausible  to  the  eye,  but  utterly  void 
of  life.  Later  in  the  day  a  party  of  us  landed  with  our  guns 
and  strayed  among  the  vineyards  in  search  of  game.  At 


SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  GREEKS. 


21 7 


one  spot  near  the  coast  we  came  upon  a  piteous  sight,  the 
bones  of  many  who  had  preferred  a  voluntary  death  to 
captivity,  when  their  homes  became  the  prey  of  a  Turkish 
squadron.  Mothers  in  horror  and  despair  had  slaughtered 
their  children  on  the  cliff  and  thrown  themselves  over  on 
their  bodies  which  had  already  found  a  resting-place  below. 
Scarcely  less  horrible  than  this  scene  of  death  was  the  appari¬ 
tion  of  two  survivors  from  the  interior  of  the  island.  Worn 
nearly  to  skeletons  by  fear  and  anguish  and  famine,  the  very 
types  of  hopeless  misery,  with  haggard  eyes  and  loathsome 
beards,  and  tattered  rags  by  way  of  clothing,  they  told  with¬ 
out  language  the  history  of  their  sufferings.  Heavens  !  how 
I  longed  to  be  the  instrument  of  repairing  such  calamities  by 
carrying  my  mission  of  peace  and  deliverance  to  a  successful 
issue  ! 

He,  however,  could  not  do  much,  as  Russia  refused  to  join 
heartily.  Mahmud  persisted  in  forcing  su  bj  ugation.  Athens 
fell  and  at  last  a  sort  of  agreement  was  reached  by  which  the 
Greeks  gained  somewhat.  Then  came  the  battle  of  Navarino, 
when  the  Allied  fleets  under  the  lead  of  the  British  Admiral  re¬ 
pelled  an  attack  by  the  Turks  which  resulted  in  the  destruction 
of  the  Turkish  fleet.  The  responsibility  perhaps  rested  with 
the  turbulent  Ibrahim  Pasha,  but  the  inevitable  result  was 
war  with  Russia  which  ended  in  the  Treaty  of  Adrianople,  by 
which  the  independence  of  Greece  was  assured,  althouo-h  the 
completely  organized  kingdom  was  not  established  for  a  few 
years.  During  the  negotiations  between  the  five  powers, 
which  resulted  in  the  coronation  of  King  Otho,  Russian 
influence  was  predominant,  but  had  to  submit  to  much  of 
hostility  from  the  people,  who  could  not  forget  the  way  in 
which  they  had  been  now  encouraged,  then  left  in  the  lurch 


2i8  destruction  of  the  janissaries. 

by  the  Monarch  of  the  North.  In  the  meantime  the  Sultan 
was  training  under  European  drill-masters  a  body  of  14,000 
artillery  for  the  destruction  of  the  Janissaries.  When  his 
arrangements  were  complete  and  he  felt  he  could  trust 
the  commander  of  the  artillery,  “  Black  Hell,  he  obtained 
from  the  Grand  Council  of  State  an  order  sanctioned 
by  a  fetva  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  requiring  each  company  of 
the  Janissaries  to  furnish  so  many  of  their  number  to  the 
artillery.  It  was  rejected  with  scorn.  They  turned  their 
soup  kettles  upside  down  and  beat  upon  them  in  sign  of 
rebellion.  The  palace  gates  were  shut  and  they  could  not 
get  at  the  Sultan.  The  batteries  were  ready  in  barges  on 
the  Asiatic  side  and  soon  to  the  consternation  of  the  Janis¬ 
saries  every  street  leading  from  the  barracks  was  swept  by 
shot  and  shell  as  soon  as  they  appeared.  They  made  des¬ 
perate  rallies,  but  grape  cut  them  down.  The  remnant 
retired  to  their  barracks  to  defend  themselves  to  the  last. 
“  Black  Hell  ”  had  no  intention  to  give  them  any  chance  to 
fight.  He  shelled  the  barracks  till  he  set  them  on  fire  and 
not  a  man  escaped.  The  joy  of  the  people  was  unbounded. 
The  Janissaries  had  become  a  terror  to  Moslems  as  well  as 
Christians.  Their  robberies  and  murders  knew  no  law. 
The  smaller  bodies  scattered  through  the  cities  were  hunted 
down  like  wild  beasts,  the  corps  abolished  and  all  its 
standards  and  emblems  destroyed. 

Mahmud  was  now,  1826,  free  to  institute  reforms.  He 
resolved  to  have  a  cabinet  of  prominent  ministers,  each  of 
whom  should  be  responsible  for  his  department,  and  to 
model  his  government  after  that  of  England.  He  felt  keenly 
the  loss  of  Greece  and  the  destruction  of  his  fleet,  but  did 
not  abate  one  jot  of  his  eagerness  for  reform.  He  had 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA. 


219 


40,000  soldiers  under  the  discipline  of  the  young  Moltke, 
afterwards  so  distinguished  in  German  history.  Russia  car¬ 
ing  little  for  Greece,  but  never  losing  sight  of  Constantinople, 
saw  her  opportunity,  came  down  upon  him  with  demands  that 
stirred  his  wrath,  but  he  was  powerless  and  she  forced  upon 
him  the  treaty  of  Akkerman  with  many  stipulations  injurious 
to  Turkey,  such  as  increased  privileges  for  the  Danubian 
Principalities  and  free  passage  of  the  straits. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Janissaries  and  of  the  Turk¬ 
ish  fleet  and  the  loss  of  Greece,  Russia  regarded  Turkey  as 
an  easy  prey,  and  the  next  step  by  the  Czar  was  to  send  into 
Bulgaria  in  1828  an  army  which  he  believed  would  march 
triumphantly  across  the  Balkans,  through  Eastern  Rumelia 
to  Constantinople.  But  the  Turks  fought  with  such  enthusi¬ 
asm  that  the  campaign  of  1828  was  a  failure. 

In  1829  Diebitsch  crossed  the  Balkan  with  some  hard 
fighting  and  came  down  upon  Adrianople,  which  he  took 
with  ease.  A  most  destructive  cholera  or  plague  was  deci¬ 
mating  his  army,  and  if  the  Turks  had  only  maintained  their 
positions  two  weeks  longer  Diebitsch  would  have  had  no 
force  left.  He  played  a  high  game  of  bluff,  declared  he  had 
50,000  men  and  that  he  would  march  immediately  upon  the 
city.  The  ambassadors  all  joined  in  beseeching  the  Sultan 
to  save  his  capital,  which  he  did  by  an  indemnity  of  £*5,000,- 
000.  When  he  found  out  the  deception,  and  that  the  Rus¬ 
sian  army  was  chiefly  beneath  the  soil,  his  chagrin  was  so 
bitter  that  he  shut  himself  up,  and  for  a  whole  week  his  of¬ 
ficers  could  not  see  him.  The  result  was  the  Treaty  of 
Adrianople,  which  added  to  the  previous  agreements  the 
demand  for  a  heavy  war  indemnity  to  Russia. 

The  indemnity,  which  was  manfully  paid,  swept  off  the 


220 


REFORMS. 


gold  and  silver  of  the  empire,  and  Mahmud  substituted  a 
base  coin  of  the  same  numerical  value,  a  kind  of  “fiat 
money  ”  which  was  thought  at  first  to  be  a  grand  inven¬ 
tion,  but  which  played  the  mischief  with  commerce  and  with 
the  finances  generally. 

Undaunted  by  all  these  reverses  he  rebuilt  his  navy,  em¬ 
ploying  one  American,  Mr.  Eckford,  and  his  foreman,  Mr. 
Rhodes,  who  produced  some  of  the  most  noble  vessels  of 
war  then  afloat. 

He  introduced  reforms  in  the  civil  administration  which 
were  welcomed  by  the  people ;  the  rajahs  were  treated  with 
a  justice  and  consideration  that  was  new  to  them.  Many  Ar¬ 
menians  were  introduced  into  offices  never  before  given  to 
rajahs.  One  Armenian  was  at  the  head  of  the  mint,  an¬ 
other  was  the  Sultan’s  architect  and  another  chief  of  his 
powder  works  and  most  of  the  construction  of  arms,  and 
another  was  collector  of  the  port.  The  latter  was  a  man  of 
remarkable  capacity,  a  friend  of  learning  and  a  good  friend 
of  the  first  American  missionaries.  Could  Mahmud  have  had 
a  decade  of  peace  after  the  destruction  of  the  Janissaries  and 
the  peace  with  Greece,  with  his  iron  will  and  wonderful 
energy  he  might  have  brought  up  the  old  empire  into  some 
degree  of  health  and  vigor.  England  had  begun  to  favor  his 
reforms  ;  France  was  friendly;  but  Russia  and  Austria  were 
bent  upon  his  ruin. 

Another  danger  threatened  the  Sultan.  Among  the  men 
sent  to  join  the  Turkish  contingent  in  Egypt  in  their  contest 
with  the  French  in  1801  was  a  young  Albanian  named  Me- 
hemet  Ali.  During  the  two  years  that  followed  he  gained  in¬ 
creasing  influence  among  the  Albanians  and  when  soon  there 
came  a  conflict  between  them  and  the  Turks  he  took  the 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  BOSPORUS. 


22l 


position  of  leader,  and  at  last  succeeded  in  securing  a  firman 
of  investiture  as  Pasha  of  Egypt.  He  was  ambitious  and  suc¬ 
cessful,  advancing  his  arms  until  he  secured  the  west  coast  of 
Arabia,  and  although  acknowledging  the  Sultan  as  Suzerain 
became,  with  his  son  Ibrahim,  a  cause  of  much  anxiety.  It 
was  Ibrahim  who  brought  on  the  battle  of  Navarino,  and  once 
feeling  his  power  he  did  not  hesitate  to  use  it,  and  the  next 
step  was  to  claim  independence.  The  Egyptian  forces  con¬ 
quered  Syria,  Mahmud’s  forces  were  defeated  at  Konieh  and 
there  seemed  nothing  to  prevent  his  march  to  Constanti¬ 
nople.  Mahmud  sought  in  vain  the  intervention  of  England. 
He  had  next  to  turn  to  his  great  enemy,  Russia,  who  imme¬ 
diately  landed  an  army  on  the  Asiatic  shore  of  the  Bosporus. 
England  bit  her  lips  too  late.  Russia  had  eagerly  seized  the 
opportunity  which  England  had  slighted. 

Thus  Ibrahim’s  course  was  stopped  and  he  had  to  turn 
back.  The  treaty  of  Hunkiar  Iskelessi,  July  8,  1833,  was  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance  between  Turkey  and  Russia, 
which  closed  the  Dardanelles  to  other  powers  and  gave  the 
right  of  intervening  against  the  interior  and  exterior  enemies 
of  the  Porte.  Some  places  of  importance  were  yielded  to  Me- 
hemet  Ali,  who  became  an  increasingly  important  factor  even 
in  European  politics.  He  had  his  eye  on  Bagdad  and  an  ar¬ 
rangement  by  which  he  should  at  least  be  Grand  Vizier,  per¬ 
haps  Sultan. 

With  all  these  difficulties,  Mahmud,  unsubdued,  continued 
his  reforms,  and  began  to  lean  more  upon  England  as  op¬ 
posed  to  Russia.  He  had  again  a  fleet  and  a  disciplined  army 
when  again  the  great  Viceroy  of  Egypt  rebelled.  Mahmud 
was  dying  of  consumption.  One  who  saw  him  two  weeks 
before  his  death  said  that  he  had  the  looks  of  a  caged  eagle, 


222 


ABD-UL-MEDJID. 


his  spirit  unsubdued.  He  sent  his  fleet  against  Alexandria, 
and  his  army  against  Ibrahim.  The  fleet  was  basely  be¬ 
trayed  into  the  hands  of  Mehemet  Ali,  and  the  army  was  badly 
beaten  at  Nezib,  near  the  Euphrates.  Mahmud  died  before 
the  terrible  news  reached  the  capital. 

Abd-ul-Medjid  was  girded  with  the  sword  of  Osman,  July, 
1839.  A  convention  between  Great  Britain,  Austria,  Prussia, 
Russia  and  Turkey  settled  the  affairs  of  Egypt  and  the  Porte; 
in  1840  Mehemet  Ali  became  the  hereditary  viceroy,  and  was 
compelled  to  give  up  all  the  places  he  had  won.  Indeed,  the 
English  navy  had  driven  him  out  of  all  the  ports  on  the  Syrian 
coast.  He  was  to  pay  one-fourth  of  his  revenue  to  the 
Porte  and  acknowledge  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan. 

The  young  Sultan  was  inducted  into  his  high  office  with  un¬ 
exampled  splendor.  He  had  fully  imbibed  from  his  father  the 
spirit  of  reform,  and  a  set  of  young  men  of  marked  ability  had 
been  educated  in  England  and  France  to  co-operate  with  him. 
He  had  nothing  of  the  lion-like  character  of  his  father,  but  he 
had  what  his  father  never  had,  able  and  faithful  coadjutors. 
Fuad,  Aali,  Midhat,  Ahmed  Vefyk  Pashas  did  honor  to  his 
reign,  and  in  part  to  his  successors.  His  commander-in-chief, 
Omar  Pasha,  was  a  man  of  great  military  skill  and  genius,  and 
of  sound  judgment.  He  kept  European  Turkey  quiet  in 
spite  of  Russian  revolutionists.  But  from  1842  to  1856  the 
controlling  power  was  unquestionably  the  English  Ambas¬ 
sador,  Sir  Stratford  Canning,  better  known  as  Lord  Stratford 
De  Redcliffe. 

Russia  was  having  her  own  way,  and  the  English  Ambas¬ 
sador,  Ponsonby,  was  merely  a  nobleman  of  vast  wealth.  He 
could  make  a  splendid  show.  He  had  the  finest  “  turn  out” 
of  any  ambassador;  beyond  that  he  had  nothing.  Canning 


INFLUENCE  OF  LORD  STRATFORD. 


223 


had  been  three  times  at  the  Ottoman  court,  and  he  knew  the 
ropes  when  he  came  in  1842.  The  Czar  hated  and  feared 
him,  and  he  feared  if  he  did  not  hate  the  Czar.  There  were 
now  to  be  fourteen  years  of  the  most  indefatigable  labor  to 
regenerate  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  equal  effort  on  the  Rus¬ 
sian  side  to  prevent  and  upset  all  Canning’s  plans.  But  the 
Czar  had  no  man  of  such  mighty  personality  to  match  him. 
He  recalled  De  Boutineff  and  sent  Litoff. 

Lord  Stratford  interested  himself  in  everything  that  per¬ 
tained  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  empire,  especially  in  the 
betterment  of  the  situation  of  the  Christians.  He  was  greatly 
pleased  with  the  promulgation  of  the  Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhane 
(described  in  the  chapter  on  the  condition  of  the  Christians), 
and  was  a  cordial  friend  to  the  missionaries.  He  also  was 
interested  in  archaeology.  He  obtained  for  young  Layard 
(Sir  Austen  Henry  Layard)  a  firman  for  those  researches  in 
Nineveh  which  gave  him  the  name  of  Nineveh  Layard.  This 
was  done  at  Canning’s  personal  expense.  He  obtained  from 
the  Sultan  the  personal  gift  of  the  frieze  of  the  Mausoleum  of 
Artemisia,  at  Budrum,  and  presented  the  seventeen  slabs, 
weighing  twenty  tons,  to  the  British  Museum.  One  of  his 
great  diplomatic  triumphs  was  obtained  against  the  united 
power  of  Austria  and  Russia,  when  the  Hungarian  Revolution 
failed,  and  Kossuth  and  his  three  hundred  companions  fled  to 
Turkey.  Every  house,  native  and  foreign,  was  opened  to 
them.  Russia  and  Austria  demanded  that  they  be  surren¬ 
dered.  It  was  an  anxious  time  until  the  Sultan’s  reply  came, 
that  he  would  sooner  surrender  his  throne  than  give  up  any 
one  who  had  fled  to  him  for  shelter.  Both  embassies  declared 
this  equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  war,  pulled  down  their  flags, 
covered  with  black  the  national  signs  and  monograms  on  the 


224 


KOSSUTH. 


ambassadorial  buildings,  and  departed  in  a  rout  of  warlike 
pomp.  England  and  France  assured  the  Sultan  of  their  sup¬ 
port,  and  the  proud  ambassadors  had  to  come  back  and  be 
laughed  at.  Russia  and  Austria  would  not  meet  England, 
France  and  Turkey  in  a  new  war  for  the  pleasure  and  privilege 
of  housing  those  few  refugees. 

The  returned  ambassadors  tried  every  means  to  persecute 
the  brave  men,  but  Canning  met  them  at  every  point  and 
baffled  them.  It  is  not  strange  that  Russian  newspapers 
lavished  ink  upon  Sir  Stratford  Canning,  or  that  they  re¬ 
garded  him  as  the  Arch  Fiend  of  diplomacy. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Reforms  and  Progress. 


Reign  of  Abd-ul-Medjid— Influence  of  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe— English  Policy  in 
Turkey  Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhan6 — A  Remarkable  Document — Equal  Rights  for  all 
Subjects  of  the  Sultan — Land  Tax  and  Judicial  Reform — General  Situation  of  the 
Country — Application  of  the  Reforms. 


BD-UL-MEDJID  was  a  man  of  entirely  different  type 


1  \  from  his  father.  He  had  little  of  that  clear  foresight 
and  determined  will  which  made  Mahmud  throw  aside 
turban  and  kaftan,  and  assume  the  European  dress,  retaining 
only  the  fez  as  the  distinguishing  mark  of  his  Turkish  race; 
study  a  French  book  of  tactics  and  learn  to  ride  his  horse 
like  an  English  dragoon  instead  of  a  Tartar  courier.  He 
had,  however,  what  Mahmud  lacked,  able  assistants.  Under 
the  general  instruction  of  Mahmud  there  had  grown  up  some 
young  men  who  realized  as  he  did  the  absolute  necessity  of 
change  in  the  conduct  of  the  Turkish  Government,  if  it  was 
to  hope  for  strength  in  comparison  with  the  European  forces, 
and  Abd-ul-Medjid  had  the  judgment  and  tact  to  call  them 
into  his  councils.  He  was  fortunate,  too,  in  having  through  a 
considerable  part  of  his  reign,  the  presence  and  counsel  of 
Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  and  the  famous  Englishman  threw 
himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  effort  to  establish  the  Turkish 
Empire  upon  such  a  basis  of  reform  as  should  make  it  an 


(225) 


226 


THE  TURKISH  PROBLEM. 


efficient  ally  of  Western  Europe  in  its  effort  to  resist  the 
aggressions  of  the  tremendous  power  of  Russia,  which  was 
not  only  menacing  more  and  more  the  peace  of  Europe,  but 
threatening  to  spread  over  it  the  pall  of  its  own  barbarism. 

Lord  Stratford  recognized  very  clearly  the  nature  of  the 
men  he  had  to  deal  with  and  the  problem  which  faced  him. 
In  a  private  letter  he  wrote:  “Very  false  notions  are  enter¬ 
tained  in  England  of  the  Turkish  nation.  You  know  much 
better  than  I  do  the  mighty  resources  and  native  wealth  which 
this  enormous  empire  possesses.  I  am  myself  a  daily  witness 
of  the  personal  qualities  of  the  inhabitants,  qualities  which  if 
properly  directed  are  capable  of  sustaining  them  against  a 
world  of  enemies.  But  the  government  is  radically  bad,  and 
its  members,  who  are  all  alive  to  its  defects,  have  neither  the 
wisdom  nor  the  courage  to  reform  it.  The  few  who  have 
courage  equal  to  the  task  know  not  how  to  reconcile  reforma¬ 
tion  with  the  prejudices  of  the  people.  And  without  this, 
nothing  can  be  effected.”  Therefore  he  set  himself,  with  all 
his  skill  and  energy,  to  the  work  of  reconciling  the  needed 
reformation  with  the  prejudices  of  the  people.  The  diplo¬ 
matic  course  of  England  has  been  singularly  ill-advised,  even 
though  perfectly  natural.  Realizing  the  nature  of  the  terrible 
oppression  of  the  Turkish  Government,  especially  as  mani¬ 
fested  in  the  condition  of  the  Greeks,  but  blind  to  the  scarcely, 
if  any,  less  terrible  oppression  of  the  Russian  Government, 
as  manifested  in  those  interior  provinces,  which  were  later  to 
be  photographed  to  the  world  by  Eugene  Schuyler,  Macdon¬ 
ald  and  George  Kennan,  she  and  France  joined  hands  with 
Russia  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  Russian  influence  an  enor¬ 
mous  prestige.  The  result  was  that  the  genuine  enthusiasm 
for  reform  which  filled  Mahmud’s  mind  was  chilled,  and  more 


RUSSIAN  OR  TURKISH  TYRANNY. 


227 


than  that,  he  was  discredited  among  his  own  people.  Another 
blunder  was  the  yielding  to  French  influence  in  permitting 
the  power  of  Mehemet  Ali  to  increase  in  Egypt,  so  that  he 
could  overrun  Syria  and  Asia  Minor.  Against  both  of  them 
Lord  Stratford  had  protested ;  not  because  he  lacked  sympa¬ 
thy  for  the  Greeks,  but  because  he  saw  more  clearly  than 
others  that  to  weaken  Mahmud  was  to  weaken  the  only  avail¬ 
able  means  of  checking  that  Russian  aggression  and  tyranny 
which  threatened  to  crush  out  all  idea  of  development. 
Turkish  tyranny  was  bad,  but  Russian  tyranny  was  worse  in 
his  eyes;  because  in  the  Sultan  he  saw  indications  of  a  real 
sympathy  with  the  best  life  of  the  nation,  while  in  the  Czar 
he  found  nothing  but  a  fierce,  unalterable  determination  to 
secure  personal  aggrandizement  at  whatever  cost  to  anybody 
else.  In  accordance  with  this  he  outlined  the  foundation  of 
his  policy  as  early  as  1832,  in  a  despatch  to  Lord  Palmerston, 
as  follows : 

“The  great  question  to  be  resolved  is  this:  How  far  is  it 
possible  to  introduce  into  the  present  system  of  administra¬ 
tion  those  improvements  without  which  the  army  and  finances 
of  the  country  must  be  equally  inefficient  ?  *  *  *  More 

than  five  years  have  elapsed  since  the  Janissaries  were 
destroyed,  and,  although  some  regulations  of  a  better  kind 
have  been  adopted,  and  the  Sultan’s  policy  is  in  general  of  a 
milder  and  more  protecting  character,  no  beneficial  results, 
except  that  of  a  diminished  animosity  between  Turks  and 
Christians,  are  yet  visible.  The  regular  army  is  not  more 
numerous  now,  and  scarcely  better  disciplined,  than  it  was 
before  the  war  with  Russia.  The  financial  embarrassments 
increase,  and  commerce  is  still  depressed  by  a  pernicious  sys¬ 
tem  of  monopoly.  *  *  *  I  think  the  time  is  near  at  handy 


228 


HUNKIAR  ISKELLESSI. 


or  perhaps  already  come,  when  it  is  necessary  that  a  decided 
line  of  policy  should  be  adopted  and  steadily  pursued  with 
respect  to  this  country.  The  Turkish  Empire  is  evidently 
hastening  to  its  dissolution,  and  an  approach  to  the  civiliza¬ 
tion  of  Christendom  affords  the  only  chance  of  keeping  it 
together  for  any  length  of  time.  That  chance  is  a  very  pre¬ 
carious  one  at  best,  and  should  it  unfortunately  not  be  realized, 
the  dismemberment  which  would  ensue  could  hardly  fail  of 
disturbing  the  peace  of  Europe  through  a  long  series  of  years. 

Here  we  have  the  germ  of  Lord  Stratford’s  policy,  and 
just  in  proportion  as  that  policy  was  carried  out  by  the 
Turkish  Government  was  there  peace  in  Europe  and  pros¬ 
perity  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  It  is  to  the  neglect  of  that  policy 
by  Abd-ul-Aziz,  and  its  reversal  by  Abd-ul-Hamid,  combined 
with  the  inertness  of  Lord  Stratford’s  successors  in  the  English 
Embassy  at  Constantinople,  and  the  determined  hostility  of 
Russia,  that  have  been  due  the  terrible  events  of  the  past  two 
years.  It  was  most  unfortunate  that  for  ten  years,  1832-1841, 
Lord  Stratford  had  no  voice  in  Turkish  matters.  During  that 

o 

period  came  the  treaty  of  Hunkiar  Iskellessi,  when  the  Rus¬ 
sian  fleet,  anchored  in  the  Bosporus,  made  the  Sultan  a  vassal 
of  the  Czar,  and  the  great  advance  of  Mehemet  Ali,  all  result¬ 
ing  in  the  discouragement  of  the  most  courageous  and  pro¬ 
gressive  Sultan  Turkey  has  ever  had,  and  a  situation  at  his 
death  which  would  have  appalled  an  ordinary  man. 

Abd-ul-Medjid’s  first  step  was  one  which  presaged  good. 
Scarcely  had  he  ascended  his  throne  when  he  promulgated 
the  Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhane.  In  some  respects  this  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  documents  in  history.  In  a  sense  it  is 
surpassed  by  the  more  famous  Hatti  Humayoun  issued 
by  the  same  Sultan  some  years  later,  but  that  was  after  he 


HATTI  SHERIF. 


229 


had  been  under  Lord  Stratford’s  influence,  and  was  in  the 
flush  of  victory  in  the  Crimean  War.  This  was  at  a  time 
when  discouragement  was  on  every  side,  and  all  European 
ideas  were  looked  upon  as  thoroughly  anti-Islam.  In  view 
of  its  historical  value,  we  give  the  text  in  full. 

Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhane. 

“All  the  world  knows  that,  in  the  first  days  of  the  Ottoman  monarchy,  the 
glorious  precepts  of  the  Koran  and  the  laws  of  the  empire  were  always 
honored. 

“  The  empire  in  consequence  increased  in  strength  and  greatness,  and  all 
its  subjects,  without  exception,  had  risen  in  the  highest  degree  to  ease  and 
prosperity.  In  the  last  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  a  succession  of  accidents 
and  divers  causes  have  Arisen  which  have  brought  about  a  disregard  for  the 
sacred  code  of  laws  and  the  regulations  flowing  therefrom,  and  the  former 
strength  and  prosperity  have  changed  into  weakness  and  poverty;  an  empire 
in  fact  loses  all  its  stability  so  soon  as  it  ceases  to  observe  its  laws. 

“These  considerations  are  ever  present  to  our  mind,  and  ever  since  the 
day  of  our  advent  to  the  throne  the  thought  of  the  public  weal,  of  the 
improvement  of  the  state  of  the  provinces,  and  of  relief  to  the  (subject) 
peoples,  has  not  ceased  to  engage  it.  If,  therefore,  the  geographical  position 
of  the  Ottoman  provinces,  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  aptitude  and  intelli¬ 
gence  of  the  inhabitants,  are  considered,  the  conviction  will  remain  that  by 
striving  to  find  efficacious  means,  the  result,  which  by  the  help  of  God  we 
hope  to  attain,  can  be  obtained  within  a  few  years.  Full  of  confidence, 
therefore,  in  the  help  of  the  Most  High,  and  certain  of  the  support  of  our 
Prophet,  we  deem  it  right  to  try  by  new  institutions  to  give  to  the  provinces 
composing  the  Ottoman  Empire  the  benefit  of  a  good  administration. 

“These  institutions  must  be  principally  carried  out  under  three  heads, 
which  are : 

“  1.  The  guaranteeing  and  insuring  to  our  subjects  perfect  security  for  life, 
honor,  and  fortune. 

“  2.  A  regular  system  of  assessing  and  levying  taxes. 

“3.  An  equally  regular  system  for  the  levying  of  troops  and  the  duration 
of  their  service. 

“  And,  in  fact,  are  not  life  and  honor  the  most  precious  gifts  to  mankind  ? 


230 


VENALITY. 


What  man,  however  much  his  character  may  be  against  violence,  can  pre¬ 
vent  himself  from  having  recourse  to  it,  and  thereby  injure  the  government 
and  the  country,  if  his  life  and  honor  are  endangered  ?  If,  on  the  contrary, 
he  enjoys  in  that  respect  perfect  security,  he  will  not  depart  from  the  ways 
of  loyalty,  and  all  his  actions  will  contribute  to  the  good  of  the  government 
and  of  his  brothers. 

“  If  there  is  an  absence  of  security  as  to  one’s  fortune,  everyone  remains 
insensible  to  the  voice  of  the  Prince  and  the  country ;  no  one  interests  him¬ 
self  in  the  progress  of  public  good,  absorbed  as  he  is  in  his  own  troubles. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  the  citizen  keeps  possession  in  all  confidence  of  all  his 
goods,  then,  full  of  ardor  in  his  affairs,  which  he  seeks  to  enlarge  in  order  to 
increase  his  comforts,  he  feels  daily  growing  and  doubling  in  his  heart  not 
only  his  love  for  the  Prince  and  country,  but  also  his  devotion  to  his  native 
land. 

“  These  feelings  become  in  him  the  source  of  the  most  praiseworthy 
actions. 

“  As  to  the  regular  and  fixed  assessment  of  the  taxes,  it  is  very  important 
that  it  be  regulated;  for  the  state  which  is  forced  to  incur  many  expenses  for 
the  defense  of  its  territory  cannot  obtain  the  money  necessary  for  its  armies 
and  other  services  except  by  means  of  contributions  levied  on  its  subjects. 
Although,  thanks  be  to  God,  our  empire  has  for  some  time  past  been  delivered 
from  the  scourge  of  monopolies,  falsely  considered  in  times  of  war  as  a  source 
of  revenue,  a  fatal  custom  still  exists,  although  it  can  only  have  disastrous 
consequences;  it  is  that  of  venal  cessions,  known  under  the  name  of 
‘  Iltizam.  ’ 

“Under  that  name  the  civil  and  financial  administration  of  a  locality  is 
delivered  over  to  the  passions  of  a  single  man;  that  is  to  say,  sometimes  to 
the  iron  grasp  of  the  most  violent  and  avaricious  passions ;  for  if  that  con¬ 
tractor  is  not  a  good  man,  he  will  only  look  to  his  own  advantage. 

“It  is  therefore  necessary  that  henceforth  each  member  of  Ottoman 
society  should  be  taxed  for  a  quota  of  a  fixed  tax  according  to  his  fortune 
and  means,  and  that  it  should  be  impossible  that  anything  more  could  be 
exacted  from  him.  It  is  also  necessary  that  special  laws  should  fix  and  limit 
the  expenses  of  our  land  and  sea  forces. 

“Although,  as  we  have  said,  the  defense  of  the  country  is  an  important 
matter,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  all  the  inhabitants  to  furnish  soldiers  for 
that  object,  it  has  become  necessary  to  establish  laws  to  regulate  the  con- 


RIGHTS  OF  PROPERTY. 


531 


tingent  to  be  furnished  by  each  locality  according  to  the  necessity  of  the 
time,  and  to  reduce  the  term  of  military  service  to  four  or  five  years. 
For  it  is  at  the  same  time  doing  an  injustice  and  giving  a  mortal  blow  to 
agriculture  and  to  industry  to  take,  without  consideration  to  the  respective 
population  of  the  localities,  in  the  one  more,  in  the  other  less,  men  than 
they  can  furnish;  it  is  also  reducing  the  soldiers  to  despair  and  contributing 
to  the  depopulation  of  the  country  by  keeping  them  all  their  lives  in  the 
service. 

“  In  short,  without  the  several  laws,  the  necessity  for  which  has  just  been 
described,  there  can  be  neither  strength,  nor  riches,  nor  happiness,  nor 
tranquillity  for  the  empire ;  it  must,  on  the  contrary,  look  for  them  in  the 
existence  of  these  new  laws. 

“  From  henceforth,  therefore,  the  cause  of  every  accused  person  shall  be 
publicly  judged,  as  the  divine  law  requires,  after  inquiry  and  examination, 
and  so  long  as  a  regular  judgment  shall  not  have  been  pronounced,  no  one 
can  secretly  or  publicly  put  another  to  death  by  poison  or  in  any  other 
manner. 

“  No  one  shall  be  allowed  to  attach  the  honor  of  any  other  person 
whatever. 

“Each  one  shall  possess  his  property  of  every  kind,  and  shall  dispose  of 
it  in  all  freedom,  without  let  or  hindrance  from  any  person  whatever;  thus, 
for  example,  the  innocent  heirs  of  a  criminal  shall  not  be  deprived  of  their 
legal  rights,  and  the  property  of  the  criminal  shall  not  be  confiscated. 
These  imperial  concessions  shall  extend  to  all  our  subjects,  of  whatever 
religion  or  sect  they  may  be;  they  shall  enjoy  them  without  exception.  We 
therefore  grant  perfect  security  to  the  inhabitants  of  our  empire  in  their 
lives,  their  honor,  and  their  fortunes,  as  they  are  secured  to  them  by  the 
sacred  text  of  the  law. 

“As  for  the  other  points,  as  they  must  be  settled  with  the  assistance 
of  enlightened  opinions,  our  council  of  justice  (increased  by  new  members 
as  shall  be  found  necessary),  to  whom  shall  be  joined,  on  certain  days 
which  we  shall  determine,  our  ministers  and  the  notabilities  of  the  empire, 
shall  assemble  in  order  to  frame  laws  regulating  the  security  of  life  and 
fortune  and  the  assessment  of  the  taxes.  Each  one  in  those  assemblies 
shall  freely  express  his  ideas  and  give  his  advice. 

“  The  laws  regulating  the  military  service  shall  be  discussed  by  a  mili¬ 
tary  council  holding  its  sittings  at  the  palace  of  Seraskier.  As  soon  as  a 
14 


232 


REGULAR  SALARIES. 


law  shall  be  passed,  in  order  to  be  forever  valid,  it  shall  be  presented  to 
us;  we  shall  give  it  our  approval,  which  we  will  write  with  our  imperial 
sign-manual. 

“As  the  object  of  these  institutions  is  solely  to  revivify  religion,  govern¬ 
ment,  the  nation,  and  the  empire,  we  engage  not  to  do  anything  which  is 
contrary  thereto. 

“  In  testimony  of  our  promise  we  will,  after  having  deposited  these  pres¬ 
ents  in  the  hall  containing  the  glorious  mantle  of  the  prophet,  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  all  the  ulemas  and  the  grandees  of  the  empire,  make  oath  thereto  in 
the  name  of  God,  and  shall  afterwards  cause  the  oath  to  be  taken  by  the 
ulemas  and  the  grandees  of  the  empire. 

“After  that,  those  from  among  the  ulemas  and  the  grandees  of  the 
empire,  or  any  other  persons  whatsoever,  who  shall  infringe  these  institutions, 
shall  undergo,  without  respect  of  rank,  position,  and  influence,  the  punish¬ 
ment  corresponding  to  his  crime,  after  having  been  well  authenticated. 

“  A  penal  code  shall  be  compiled  to  that  effect.  As  all  the  public  ser¬ 
vants  of  the  empire  receive  a  suitable  salary,  and  as  the  salaries  of  those 
whose  duties  have  not  up  to  the  present  time  been  sufficiently  remunerated 
are  to  be  fixed,  a  rigorous  law  shall  be  passed  against  the  traffic  of  favoritism 
and  bribery,  which  the  Divine  law  reprobates,  and  which  is  one  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal  causes  of  the  decay  of  the  empire. 

“The  above  dispositions  being  a  thorough  alliteration  and  renewal  of 
ancient  customs,  this  imperial  rescript  shall  be  published  at  Constantinople 
and  in  all  places  of  our  empire,  and  shall  be  officially  communicated  to  all 
the  ambassadors  of  the  friendly  powers  resident  at  Constantinople,  that  they 
may  be  witnesses  to  the  granting  of  these  institutions,  which,  should  it 
please  God,  shall  last  forever.  Wherein  may  the  Most  High  have  us  in  His 
holy  keeping.  May  those  who  shall  commit  an  act  contrary  to  the  present 
regulations  be  the  object  of  Divine  malediction,  and  be  deprived  forever  of 
every  kind  of  (protection)  happiness. 

“  Read  at  Gulhane,  November  3,  1839.” 

Through  the  peculiar  Oriental  verbiage  it  will  be  seen  that 
this  famous  charter  (1)  Guaranteed  to  all  subjects  of  the 
empire,  without  distinction,  their  life,  their  honor  and  their 
fortune  ;  (2)  Re-established  a  uniform  and  regular  mode  of 
assessing  and  subsequently  levying  the  taxes;  (3)  Regulated, 


REFORM  AND  REACTION. 


233 

by  legal  powers,  the  levy  of  soldiers  and  the  duration  of 
military  service  ;  (4)  Suppressed  monopolies ;  (5)  Ordered 
that  the  taxes  should  be  levied  in  proportion  to  the  fortune 
of  each ,  (6)  Promised  laws  that  should  fix  the  expenses  of 
the  land  and  sea  forces  with  the  contingent  of  each  locality ; 
(7)  Ordered  that  every  cause  should  be  tried  publicly  accord- 
ing  to  the  civil  and  religious  laws  ;  (8)  that  every  subject 
should  possess  his  property  with  all  the  rights  of  ownership, 
and  might  sell  it ;  and  finally,  (9)  that  the  heirs  of  a  criminal 
should  not  be  deprived  of  their  claims  to  his  estate. 

Such  reforms  were  far-reaching  and  it  is  scarcely  surpris¬ 
ing  that  their  promulgation  stirred  a  dangerous  reaction,  or 
that  for  a  time  the  government  was  practically  in  the  hands 
of  the  reactionary  party,  which  aimed  at  a  return  to  the 
system  overturned  by  Mahmud,  or  at  least  to  weaken  the 
force  of  the  privileges  granted  to  the  Christians  as  much  as 
possible.  In  this  they  were  assisted  by  the  general  conditions 
of  the  country,  already  referred  to  as  disorganized,  but  more 
completely  described  by  Lord  Stratford’s  biographer  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“  The  general  state  of  the  empire  was  such  as  might  be 
expected  after  the  late  troubles  and  under  the  existing  rulers. 

6  reigned  in  the  provinces.  The  misgovernment  of 
Wallachia  offered  an  opportunity  for  Russian  intrigues;  Bul¬ 
garia  had  caught  the  fever  of  disquiet,  Albania  soon  broke 
into  revolt,  and  in  1843  Servia  rose  against  her  prince.  The 
local  pashas  did  as  they  pleased.  At  Scutari,  three  Christian 
peasants  were  executed  without  trial ;  at  Trebizond,  the  pasha 
cut  the  throats  of  two  criminals  in  the  public  street ;  the 
governor  of  Mosul  rushed  out  one  night,  mad  with  drink,  to 
murder  at  pleasure ;  two  towns  were  razed  to  the  ground  by 


234 


GENERAL  DEMORALIZATION. 


the  troops  in  Albania  ;  the  soldiers  mutinied  for  their  pay  at 
Salon ica,  tried  to  kill  their  colonel,  and  then  burnt  the  stores 
in  a  caravanserai,  while  the  pasha  looked  on  ;  unequal  and 
cruel  taxation  was  driving  the  people  to  despair ;  the  minis¬ 
ters  of  the  Porte  used  their  official  authority  in  favor  of  their 
private  trading,  and  invited  presents  of  hush-money  from  , 
offending  pashas.  Fanaticism  against  Christians  was  increas¬ 
ing,  and  Pera  was  placarded  with  threats  of  burning  the 
Frank  quarter.  ‘There  is  no  such  thing  as  system  in 
Turkey,’  wrote  the  ambassador.  *  Every  man  according  to 
his  means  and  opportunities  gets  what  he  can,  commands 
what  he  dares,  and  submits  when  he  must.’  Financial 
embarrassment,  public  and  individual,  prevailed  to  an  alarm¬ 
ing  extent.  The  only  active  trade  was  the  traffic  in  lucrative 
posts  in  the  public  service;  but  salaries  were  in  arrears; 
commerce  languished;  the  currency  was  ruinously  debased  ; 
forests  and  mines  and  other  resources  were  neglected  ;  com¬ 
munications  were  bad — no  roads  or  mere  tracks  ;  good  land 
on  the  coast  within  50  miles  of  Constantinople  was  to  be 
bought  for  two  shillings  an  acre,  while  Russian  grain  was 
sold  at  a  comfortable  profit  hard  by.  Ignorance  and  corrup¬ 
tion  prevailed  in  every  department  of  the  state ;  brutal 
violence  and  torture  were  employed  in  the  law  courts;  Chris¬ 
tian  evidence  was  not  accepted  against  Moslems ;  Christians 
were  annoyed  if  they  entered  the  Turkish  quarters  of  the 
capital  ;  constant  cases  occurred  of  fraud  and  outrage  against 
them  ;  yet  in  spite  of  these  disabilities  the  rayahs  were  slowly 
advancing  in  wealth,  education  and  independence,  whilst  the 
Turks  were  losing  ground.” 

Into  this  condition  of  things  Lord  Stratford  injected  his  own 
fierce  zeal,  determined  to  carry  through  his  point  if  possible, 


EFFORTS  AT  REFORM. 


235 


and,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  his  very  indomitableness  was  the 
occasion  for  a  large  degree  of  success.  One  of  his  chief 
points  was  the  carrying  out  of  reforms  with  regard  to  the 
Christians,  not  because  he  wanted  to  help  the  Christians  at 
the  expense  of  the  Moslems,  for  he  appreciated  the  situation 
of  the  latter  thoroughly,  but  because  he  recognized  that  the 
development  of  the  empire  rested  more  with  the  Christians 
than  with  the  Turks,  and  also  that  that  development  could 
not  be  hoped  for  until  there  was  political  equality.  Hence  it 
was  fully  as  much  with  a  desire  to  help  the  Turks  themselves 
as  the  Christians  that  he  set  himself  to  oppose  the  reign  of 
fanaticism  which  threatened  to  swamp  the  best  efforts  of  the 
Sultan.  Among  the  various  points  which  he  carried  were 
the  abolition  of  religious  executions  and  of  the  use  of  tor¬ 
ture  in  trials.  Several  instances  occurred  of  the  former,  one 
of  an  Armenian  and  another  of  a  Greek,  both  of  whom  had 
accepted  Mohammedanism  and  then  sought  to  return  to  their 
Christian  faith,  which  second  apostasy  the  Moslem  ferocity 
had  visited  with  death.  This  he  carried  by  his  own  per¬ 
sonal  influence  with  the  Sultan.  In  other  reforms  he  had  the 
cordial  support  of  the  famous  Reshid  Pasha,  one  of  the 
noblest  men  that  Turkey  had  ever  produced.  Lord  Strat¬ 
ford  also  carried  in  1845  a  long-contested  point,  the  right  to 
establish  a  Protestant  Church  at  Jerusalem  for  the  British  and 
Prussian  subjects,  and  in  1846  mediated  in  behalf  of  the 
Protestant  Armenians,  exposed  both  to  the  persecution  of  the 
Porte  and  the  hostility  of  their  former  ecclesiastical  leaders. 
A  few  years  later  came  the  imperial  firman  recognizing 
Protestants  as  a  distinct  civil  community. 

Aside  from  these  the  Sultan  pressed  forward  in  the  gener¬ 
al  elevation  of  his  empire.  He  sought  to  organize  public 


33 6  REFORMS  .  URGED  FORWARD. 

instruction,  declared  the  Ottoman  University  an  institution  of 
the  state  and  inaugurated  the  division  of  the  general  educa¬ 
tion  into  the  primary,  secondary  and  superior  grades.  The 
first  of  these  had  already  existed  in  a  measure,  but  in  the 
most  primitive  form,  being  scarcely  more  than  instruction  in 
the  reading  of  the  Koran  ;  the  secondary  and  superior  grades 
had  to  be  created  entirely.  Then  came  the  publication  of  an 
administrative  code  regulating  the  duties  and  obligations  of 
officers  of  the  government  and  the  institution  of  mixed  tribu¬ 
nals  of  commerce.  The  first  trial  was  held  at  Constantinople, 
4  )  ^ations  nominating  ten  prominent 

merchants  to  fill  in  turn  the  office  of  judge,  while  the  Porte  in 
turn  nominated  ten  noted  Mussulmans.  There  was  an 
earnest  effort  to  reform  the  system  of  taxation,  and  a  decree 
in  1S50  ordered  that  the  personal  tax  should  be  collected  in 
each  province  by  the  recognized  head  men  of  the  communi¬ 
ties,  and  they  were  to  forward  the  money  thus  received  to 
their  patriarchate,  from  which  it  was  to  be  passed  over  into 
the  imperial  treasury.  Thus  the  whole  system  of  these  laws 
was  applied  little  by  little  to  every  province  of  the  empire  in 
succession.  In  some  it  met  with  reasonable  success;  in  others 
it  called  out  the  bitterest  opposition.  Mehemet  Ali,  of  Egypt, 
died  in  1S49,  and  was  succeeded  by  Abbas  Pasha,  one  of  the 
worst  princes  that  Egypt  ever  knew.  Order  came  to  him  to 
tfm  same  system  of  reforms  in  Egypt.  He  was  shrewd 
enough  not  to  make  positive  refusal,  but  disputed  over  its 
details,  and  especially  over  the  clause  which  took  from  him 
the  right  to  pronounce  sentence  of  death.  At  last,  however, 
he  yielded  and  the  reforms  were  enforced.  In  1851  another 
innovation  was  made.  Commissioners  were  appointed  to 
visit  different  provinces  of  the  empire,  examine  carefully  into 


GRADUAL  IMPROVEMENT. 


237 

the  condition  of  each,  collect  any  complaints  of  the  authori¬ 
ties  or  of  the  inhabitants  and  transmit  them  to  the  Sultan. 
Hitherto  the  government  had  scarcely  allowed  the  right  even 
of  petition,  and  while  this  was  carried  out  in  no  very  effective 
way,  and  in  not  a  few  respects  it  seemed  very  weak,  still  the 
fact  that  commissions  were  sent  at  all  marked  a  great  advance 
in  the  conduct  of  the  empire  for  the  comfort  and  interest  of 
the  people.  In  the  same  year  there  was  another  step  forward 
taken  in  education,  and  an  academy  of  sciences  and  letters 
was  established  at  Constantinople.  In  all  this  the  moving 
spirit  was  Reshid  Pasha.  He  made  no  attempt  to  secure 
absolute  success  at  first,  but  steadily  persevered  in  the  course 
of  reform  wherever  an  opportunity  offered. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Treaties  of  Paris  and  Berlin. 


Influence  of  Lord  Stratford — The  Holy  Places — Crimean  War — Treaty  of  Paris — Abd-ul- 
Aziz — Extravagance — Influx  of  Europeans — Provincial  Government — Accession  of  Abd- 
ul-Hamid  II — Russo-Turkish  War — Treaty  of  San  Stephano — Treaty  of  Berlin — 
Cyprus  Convention. 


THE  success  of  Lord  Stratford  in  establishing  reforms  in 
Turkey,  and  more  than  that  in  securing  the  cordial  en¬ 
dorsement  of  the  Sultan  and  of  Reshid  Pasha,  occasioned  great 
uneasiness  in  Russia.  During  the  whole  of  Abd-ul-Medjid’s 
reign  there  had  been  continuous  intrigue,  especially  in  the 
Danubian  Provinces  and  in  Servia.  This  latter  had  been 
practically  independent  since  1830,  but  its  independence  was 
by  no  means  a  peaceable  one.  Its  prince,  the  founder  of  the 
Obrenowitch  line,  was  a  tyrant  who  took  advantage  of  every 
opportunity  to  fill  his  own  private  purse.  There  were  risings 
of  the  people  followed  by  firmans  from  Constantinople, 
which  limited  his  rights,  but  still  the  general  suzerainty  of  the 
Porte  was  acknowledged,  and  Servia  was  recognized  as  a 
Moslem  State.  Along  the  Danube  there  were  similar  occur¬ 
rences  following  on  the  revolutions  of  1848.  The  prince  of 
Wallachia  accepted  a  constitution  and  then  fled,  a  provisional 
government  being  established.  The  movement  spread  to 
Moldavia  and  Russian  troops  occupied  the  provinces,  resulting 


(238) 


1  <  * 


CLAIMS  FOR  THE  HOLY  PLACES. 


239 


in  an  agreement  between  the  Porte  and  Russia  for  a  sort  of 
mutual  supervision.  Similarly  in  Syria  there  had  been 
trouble  which  called  for  the  intervention  of  Europe  for  the 
protection  of  the  Maronites  against  the  Druzes.  It  was 
again,  however,  about  the  Holy  Places  in  Jerusalem  that  the 
disturbance  centered.  During  the  reign  of  Mahmud  II  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  had  been  devasted  by  fire  and 
the  Greeks  made  the  repairs,  taking  advantage  of  that  to  lay 
claim  to  the  church,  and  consequently  to  all  the  Holy  Places, 
thus  superseding  the  French,  who  had  the  general  primacy 
since  the  time  of  the  Crusades.  In  1851,  the  government  of 
Louis  Napoleon  demanded  and  obtained  from  the  Porte,  on 
the  basis  of  the  capitulations  of  1 740,  the  formation  of  a 
mixed  commission  to  look  into  the  question  of  the  possession 
of  the  Holy  Places.  France  claimed  (1)  the  monument  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  the  church  of  that  name  at  Jerusalem; 
(2)  the  great  cupola  built  above  the  Holy  Sepulchre  ;  (3)  the 
stone  of  unction  (this  was  not  an  exclusive  claim);  (4)  the 
site  of  the  tombs  of  the  French  kings  in  Adam’s  Chapel 
under  Calvary;  (5)  the  seven  arched  vaults  of  the  Virgin  ; 

(6)  the  Church  of  Gethsemane  and  the  tomb  of  the  Virgin  ; 

(7)  the  upper  Church  of  Bethlehem  with  the  gardens  and 
sanctuaries  dependent  upon  it;  (8)  the  mixed  possession  of 
the  altar  of  Calvary.  While  making  these  general  claims  for 
the  Latins,  she  declared  that  particular  concessions  would  be 
made  to  the  other  communions,  but  they  must  be  renewed 
annually.  To  these  claims  Russia  objected  very  strenuously. 
After  considerable  discussion  the  commission  recognized  the 
rights  of  France,  but  proposed  that  the  situation  remain  as  it 
was,  except  the  admission  of  the  Latins  into  the  Sanctuary 
of  the  Virgin  and  the  right  of  Greeks  to  enter  that  of  the 


240 


THE  PORTE’S  REPLY. 


Ascension.  France  accepted  this,  but  Russia  objected,  and 
this  was  followed  by  a  special  embassy  to  Constantinople  to 
demand  by  virtue  of  the  treaty  of  Kainardji  the  exclusive 
protection  of  all  members  of  the  Greek  Church  in  Turkey, 
and  the  settlement  of  the  question  as  to  the  Holy  Places  on 
terms  granting  the  supremacy  to  the  Greeks.  This  was  in 
1853.  The  Porte  replied  with  moderation,  stating  its  desire 
not  to  injure  in  any  way  the  privileges  of  the  various  Chris¬ 
tian  subjects,  and  its  wish  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  Greek 
pilgrims  and  the  Russian  churches,  but  affirming  that  to 
accept  the  demands  of  Russia  would  be  practically  to  destroy 
its  own  independence.  The  Russian  ambassador,  Menshikoff, 
renewed  his  demands,  and  said  that  further  refusal  would 
impose  on  his  government  the  necessity  of  seeking  it  in  its 
own  power. 

At  this  time  Lord  Stratford  was  absent.  Ten  years  be¬ 
fore  he  had  met  a  somewhat  similar  difficulty  by  suggesting 
to  the  Porte  that  they  make  the  repairs  themselves,  but 
now  such  a  solution  was  no  longer  possible.  It  became  evi¬ 
dent  that  a  crisis  was  at  hand,  and  he  was  immediately  or¬ 
dered  back  from  England.  This  was  Lord  Stratford’s  fifth 
embassy  to  Constantinople,  and  marked  a  new  phase  in  his 
policy.  When  first  there,  he  had  had  a  long  struggle  with 
France,  in  which  at  the  close  he  found  himself  in  alliance  with 
Russia ;  in  the  second  and  third  he  had  united  with  France 
and  Russia  in  seeking  the  pacification  of  Greece  ;  in  the 
fourth,  which  covered  the  early  part  of  Abd-ul-Medjid’s 
reiorn,  there  was  no  great  difference  between  the  Powers, 
and  although  his  actions  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion 
by  Russia,  he  met  with  practically  no  interference  in  pressing 
for  reform.  Now,  however,  he  found  that  the  aggression  of 


PROPOSALS  OF  PARTITION. 


241 


Russia  was  becoming  threatening.  In  private  interviews  be¬ 
tween  the  Czar  and  the  British  ambassador  at  St.  Peters¬ 
burg  in  the  early  part  of  1853,  tlie  Russians  had  made 
known  a  definite  proposal  to  England  to  join  in  winding  up 
the  bankrupt  estate  of  the  “sick  man.”  Servia,  the  Danubian 
Principalities  and  Bulgaria  were  to  be  independent  under 
Russian  protection ;  if  circumstances  obliged  the  Czar  to 
occupy  Constantinople,  it  would  be  as  trustee  and  not  as 
proprietor,  and  England  might  be  free  to  appropriate  terri¬ 
tories  as  she  chose,  provided  she  did  not  undertake  to  hold 
the  capital.  All  this  he  thought  might  be  accomplished  by 
the  two  Powers,  and  if  they  agreed,  it  made  very  little  differ¬ 
ence  what  France  and  Austria  thought.  This,  however,  was 
strongly  opposed  to  the  whole  British  policy,  and  Lord 
Stratford,  immediately  upon  the  decisive  action  of  Prince 
Menshikoff,  called  the  other  representatives  of  the  great 
Powers  and  laid  the  foundation  for  the  European  alliance, 
which  was  from  that  time  steadily  opposed  to  Russian  ag¬ 
gression. 

Russia  announced  in  May  her  proposal  to  enter  the  Danu¬ 
bian  Provinces,  and  France  and  England  answered  by  des¬ 
patching  their  fleets  to  the  Island  of  Tenedos  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Dardanelles.  A  conference  was  proposed  at  Vienna, 
but  Turkey  took  the  initiative  by  attacking  the  Russians  in 
the  principalities.  Russia  retorted  by  the  destruction  of  a 
Turkish  fleet  at  Sinop.  The  English  and  French  fleets  en¬ 
tered  the  Black  Sea  and  obliged  the  Russians  to  withdraw  to 
their  own  ports.  A  last  attempt  at  peace  was  made  by 
France,  but  the  publication  of  the  English  ambassador’s  de¬ 
spatches  at  St.  Petersburg  stirred  the  indignation  of  France, 
Austria  and  Prussia,  and  the  result  was  a  general  alliance  of 


CONGRESS  AT  PARIS. 


242 

the  four  kingdoms  with  Turkey.  To  this  afterwards  Sar¬ 
dinia  was  admitted,  and  Italy  first  appeared  in  the  general 
European  concert. 

The  story  of  the  Crimean  War  it  is  not  necessary  to  re¬ 
peat  here.  The  mismanagement  of  the  British  army  at  its 
commencement  and  that  ot  the  French  at  its  close  amazed 
the  world.  At  last  England’s  forces  were  well  in  hand  and 
the  possession  of  the  Crimea  was  practically  secured.  Then 
France  grew  again  suspicious  ol  England’s  power  and 
sought  to  hold  a  balance  between  her  and  Russia.  Sevas¬ 
topol  fell  in  September  of  1 S 5  5 >  but  the  ^zar  bad  just  died 
in  chagrin  at  the  complete  failure  of  his  plans  and  the  ter¬ 
rible  injuries  and  sufferings  inflicted  upon  his  people.  His 
army  had  failed  to  take  Silistria,  and  although  Kars  had  fallen, 
the  general  rout  of  the  Russian  arms  was  so  complete  as  to 
have  made  it  possible  to  have  carried  the  day  completely. 
Alexander  II  was  willing  to  treat,  and  a  Congress  met  at  Paris 
on  the  25th  of  February,  1856.  In  this,  France,  England,  Aus¬ 
tria,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  Turkey  and  Russia  appeared.  Peace 
was  signed  on  the  30th  of  March  on  the  following  basis : 

1.  Russia  renounced  her  exclusive  right  of  protection  over 
the  Danubian  Principalities,  and  all  interference  with  their 
internal  affairs.  2.  The  free  navigation  of  the  Danube  was  to 
be  effectually  secured  by  the  establishment  of  a  commission, 
in  which  all  the  contracting  parties  should  be  represented. 
Each  of  them  should  have  the  right  to  station  two  sloops-of- 
war  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Russia  consented  to  a  recti¬ 
fication  of  frontiers  which  should  leave  to  Turkey  and  the 
Rumanian  Principalities  all  the  Danubian  delta.  3.  The 
Black  Sea  was  made  neutral ;  its  waters,  open  to  merchant 
ships  of  all  nations,  were  forbidden  to  men-of-war,  whether  of 


Russia’s  losses. 


243 


the  Powers  on  tne  coasts  or  any  others.  No  military  or  mari¬ 
time  arsenals  were  to  be  created  there.  Turkey  and  Russia 
could  only  maintain  ten  lightships  to  watch  the  coasts.  4.  The 
Hatti  Sherif  by  which  Sultan  Abd-ul-Medjid  renewed  the 
privileges  of  his  non-Mussulman  subjects  was  inserted  in  the 
treaty,  but  with  the  clause  that  the  Powers  could  not  quote 
this  insertion  as  authorizing  them  to  interfere  between  the 
Sultan  and  his  subjects. 

Russia  thus  lost  both  the  domination  of  the  Black  Sea  and 
the  protectorate  of  the  Eastern  Christians  ;  lost  her  fleets  and 
naval  arsenals  on  the  Black  Sea  and  the  fortresses  of  the 
Crimea.  The  imprudent  policy  of  Nicholas  had  destroyed 
the  advantages  gained  by  all  the  previous  treaties.  One 
clause,  however,  in  the  treaty  was  worth  to  her  almost  as 
much  as  these,  and  that  was  the  one  which  prohibited  the 
Powers  from  interfering  between  the  Sultan  and  his  subjects. 
Count  Orloff  with  the  aid  of  France  proved  more  than  a 
match  for  the  rest.  Something,  however,  was  gained,  and 
the  treaty  was  scarcely  signed  when  preparations  were  made, 
and  soon  after  came  the  publication  of  the  Hatti  Humayoun, 
described  in  another  chapter.  Lord  Stratford,  when  he  heard 
of  the  treaty  of  Paris,  said,  “  I  would  rather  have  cut  off  my 
right  hand  than  have  signed  that  treaty/'  In  a  letter  written 
about  that  time  he  said: 

“  How  are  the  Sultan’s  reforms  to  be  carried  through  ;  the 
allied  troops  all  gone  and  no  power  of  foreign  interference 
reserved?  How  is  the  country  to  be  kept  quiet  if  hopes  and 
fears,  equally  excited  in  adverse  quarters,  have  to  find  their 
own  level  ?  What  means  shall  we  possess  of  allaying  the 
discordant  elements  if  our  credit  is  to  decline  and  our  influ¬ 
ence  to  be  overlaid  by  the  persevering  artifices  of  a  jealous 


244 


SIR  HENRY  BULWER. 


and  artful  ally?  How  can  we  hope  to  supply  the  usefulness 
derivable  from  our  command  of  the  Contingent  and  Irreo-u- 
lars,  if  they  are  to  be  given  up  ?  In  short,  when  I  hear  the 
politicians  of  the  country  remark  that  the  troubles  of  Europe 
with  respect  to  this  empire  are  only  beginning,  I  know  not 
how  to  reply.” 

Lord  Stratford  soon  returned  to  England,  but  visited  Con¬ 
stantinople  again,  only  to  realize  in  the  presence  there  of  his 
successor,  Sir  Henry  Bulwer,  that  his  great  work  for  Turkey 
was  finished,  and  that  much  that  he  had  striven  for  and 
obtained  would  be  abandoned.  Sir  Henry  Bulwer  was  a  man 
of  great  diplomatic  craft,  but  of  the  vilest  moral  character. 
He  commanded  the  respect  of  nobody.  The  best  English 
families  in  the  city  refused  to  receive  him  into  their  houses. 
He  was  a  giver  and  receiver  of  bribes,  and  it  became  notori¬ 
ous  that  whenever  the  Turkish  Government,  or  indeed  any¬ 
body  else,  wished  to  carry  through  a  scheme  that  might  be 
supposed  to  be  hostile  to  English  interests,  all  they  had  to  do 
was  to  send  a  sum  of  money  to  the  English  palace  or  a  pair 
of  fine  horses  to  its  stables.  He  was  at  last  recalled  for  re¬ 
ceiving  a  bribe  of  $50,000.  He  did  everything  in  his  power  to 
undo  the  work  that  Lord  Stratford  had  done  and  to  prejudice 
the  Turks  against  the  reforms  which  he  had  been  instrumental 
in  inaugurating.  With  this  appointment  of  Sir  Henry  Bulwer 
commenced  the  decadence  of  English  influence  at  Constanti¬ 
nople  and  that  long  series  of  diplomatic  blunders  that  have 
resulted  in  the  feeling  on  the  part  of  every  class  of  people  in 
the  Turkish  Empire  that  England  is  a  synonym  for  treachery 
and  disgrace.  There  have  been  fine  men  in  the  English 
embassy:  Lord  Lyons,  so  well  known  in  the  diplomatic  circles 
in  Washington,  was  there  for  a  time,  and  had  he  remained,  it 


ATROCITIES  IN  SYRIA. 


245 

is  probable  that  much  of  the  lost  ground  would  have  been 
regained,  but  he  was  promoted  to  Paris  ;  Lord  Dufferin  was 
there  for  a  time  and  his  well-known  high  character  and  o-reat 
ability  accomplished  much,  but  his  term  was  very  short;  Sir 
William  White  had  a  period  of  most  successful  conduct  of 
English  interests,  but  he  was  removed  by  death.  Since  1857, 
the  English  embassy  at  Constantinople  has  been  occupied  the 
greater  portion  of  the  time  by  Sir  Henry  Bulwer,  a  man  of 
great  ability,  but  of  the  lowest  character ;  Sir  Henry  Elliot,  a 
man  of  high  personal  character,  but  of  no  diplomatic  ability  ; 
Sir  Austen  Layard,  not  dissimilar  to  Sir  Henry  Elliott,  and 
of  late  years  by  Sir  Philip  Currie,  a  man  of  ability  and  force 
of  character,  but  hampered  by  his  relations  and  not  equipped 
by  diplomatic  tact  and  skill  to  meet  the  wiles  of  Russian 
diplomacy. 

The  next  most  important  event  after  the  treaty  of  Paris 

was  the  atrocities  in  Syria,  where  vast  numbers  of  the 

Maronites  were  massacred  by  the  Druzes.  All  Europe  was 

filled  with  horror,  and  France  sprang  to  the  front  to  reassert 

her  former  supremacy.  The  French  fleet  anchored  in  front 

of  Beirut,  French  troops  held  the  road  to  Damascus,  and 

Syria  became  for  the  time  being  a  French  colony.  The 

influence  of  other  powers,  however,  prevented  her  securinof 

*  ^***> 

occupation  and  Fuad  Pasha  represented  the  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment  with  such  success  in  the  quieting  of  the  Moslem  tur¬ 
moil  that  the  Sultan  succeeded  in  preserving  his  hold  upon 
that  portion  of  his  empire.  This  much,  however,  was  trained  1 
a  reorganization  of  the  government  was  secured  and  the 
province  of  Lebanon  was  established  under  a  Christian 
governor,  to  be  appointed  with  and  not  to  be  removed  with¬ 
out  the  consent  of  European  Powers.  This  proved  a  great 


246 


ADVENT  OF  ABD-UL-AZIZ. 


boon,  and  Syria  was  at  peace  as  she  had  not  been  for 
centuries. 

In  1861,  Abd-ul-Medjid  died  and  his  brother  Abd-ul-Aziz 
came  to  the  throne.  The  new  Sultan  was  a  man  of  entirely 
different  type  from  either  of  his  predecessors ;  low-browed, 
coarse,  sensual,  given  up  to  the  gratification  of  personal  pas¬ 
sions  and  personal  pique;  caring  for  nothing  except  his 
personal  comfort  and  the  gratification  of  his  personal  pride  ; 
a  coward,  a  tyrant,  the  tool  of  designing  men,  utterly  weak 
for  any  good.  At  times  strong  men,  like  Fuad  and  Ali  and 
Midhat  and  Ahmed  Vefyk  Pashas,  succeeded  in  gaining  a 
temporary  power,  but  they  could  accomplish  comparatively 
little  for  good,  and  the  Turkish  court  from  1871  to  1876  was 
the  scene  of  unbounded  extravagance  and  corruption. 

Outwardly  the  reign  was  one  of  great  progress.  The 
navy  was  built  up  and  put  on  a  footing  which  brought  the 
Turkish  Government  on  a  reasonable  par  with  the  other 
Mediterranean  Governments ;  the  army  was  developed  and 
its  organization  was  brought  into  better  shape  than  at  any 
time  previous  ;  palaces  and  public  buildings  were  erected. 
Up  to  the  reign  of  Abd-ul-Medjid  the  Sultans  had  occupied 
the  famous  old  palace  of  the  Seraglio,  but  it  was  becoming 
out  of  date,  and  furthermore,  there  were  so  many  traditions 
of  violence  and  crime  connected  with  it  that  there  was  a  pall  of 
superstition  hanging  over  it.  Abd-ul-Medjid  built  the  palace 
of  Dolma-Bagtche,  which  contains  one  of  the  finest  throne- 
rooms  in  the  world.  It  was  sumptuously  furnished  and  most 
beautifully  decorated.  When  Abd-ul-Aziz  came  to  the  throne 
this  was  not  sufficient  and  he  put  up  the  palace  at  Tcheragan, 
just  above,  with  adornments  even  surpassing  in  beauty,  in 
some  respects,  those  of  Dolma-Bagtche.  Other  old  palaces 


IMPROVEMENTS. 


247 

were  torn  down  and  beautiful  buildings  erected  in  their  place. 
There  were  new  roads  built  and  efforts  to  improve  the  gener¬ 
al  condition  of  the  city.  Constantinople  itself  has  always 
suffered  from  fires ;  the  crowded  wooden  buildings  furnished 
the  best  possible  food  for  conflagration,  and  the  absolutely 
worthless  fire  department  seemed  to  help  on  rather  than 
hinder  the  flames.  One  great  fire  occurred  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  reign,  and  it  was  common  report  that  under  the 
Sultan’s  special  orders  no  efforts  were  made  to  stop  it.  It 
spread  right  through  the  city  from  the  Golden  Horn  to  the 
Marmora,  and  was  checked  only  as  it  came  up  against  the 
high  walls  of  the  Armenian  Patriarchate.  The  generally 
understood  reason  for  the  action  of  the  government  was  that 
it  might  build  up  this  section  again  in  more  approved  modern 
style.  At  any  rate  this  was  done,  and  the  whole  of  that 
region  to-day  bears  a  far  different  appearance  from  other  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  city.  Wide  streets  took  the  place  of  the  narrow 
lanes,  and  brick  and  stone  houses  replaced  the  wooden  fire- 
traps.  At  the  same  time  concessions  were  granted  on  every 
hand  for  improvements  of  all  sorts.  European  speculators 
th  ron& ed  in  crowds  around  the  offices  of  the  Sublime  Porte 
and  the  gateways  of  the  palace.  They  paid  heavy  bribes  and 
secured  the  most  valuable  subventions.  Among  the  most 
notorious,  and  one  which  yet  was  a  fair  illustration  of  many 
others,  was  that  for  the  railway  extending  from  Constantinople 
to  Adrianople.  An  Austrian  financier  secured  the  concession, 
and  the  contract  awarded  him  so  much  for  each  kilometer. 
The  result  was  that  the  road,  by  taking  advantage  of  every 
possible  turn,  avoiding  grades  and  bridges  so  far  as  possible, 
nearly  doubled  the  distance  in  a  straight  line  between  the 

two  cities.  Care  was  taken  also  to  have  the  different  stations 
15 


MORE  FAVORABLE  FEATURES. 


248 

at  sufficient  distance  from  the  principal  places  on  the  route, 
apparently  in  order  to  provide  additional  income  to  those 
who  wished  to  connect  the  cities  with  the  railroad.  The 
whole  matter  was  a  “job”  of  the  most  stupendous  character, 
and  was  a  simple  illustration  of  what  was  done  all  over  the 
empire.  The  government  borrowed  money  with  absolute 
recklessness.  Engagements  were  entered  into  without  the 
slightest  careful  investigation  as  to  the  resources  of  the 
empire  and  extravagance  ran  riot. 

At  the  same  time  there  were  more  favorable  features.  It 
was  during  this  period  that  Robert  College  in  Constantinople, 
the  Syrian  Protestant  College  in  Beirut,  the  Bible  House  in 
Constantinople  and  various  other  educational  and  philan¬ 
thropic  institutions  were  started.  So  long  as  the  immediate 
interests  of  the  more  avaricious  Turks  were  not  interfered 
with,  there  was  in  a  degree  free  hand  for  those  who  sought 
to  improve  the  general  condition  of  the  people.  Foreign  in¬ 
fluence  was  at  its  height  and  many  a  native,  not  merely  Chris¬ 
tian,  but  Turk,  rejoiced  in  the  support  of  those  who  sought 
not  any  sectarian  advantage,  but  the  general  improvement  of 
the  country.  In  the  administration  of  the  government  the 
offices  were  filled  to  a  degree  as  had  never  before  been  known 
with  Christians.  There  were  large  number  of  Europeans — 
English,  German  and  French  ;  and  with  all  the  bribery  and 
extortion  there  was  more  of  business  enterprise  than  had 
been  known  during  any  of  the  preceding  reigns.  Armenians 
and  Greeks  also  were  pushed  to  the  front.  Their  abilities 
were  recognized  by  the  heads  of  departments,  and  the  pres¬ 
sure  on  every  hand  for  the  rapid  accomplishment  of  enter¬ 
prises,  which  called  for  more  of  energy  than  the  average 
Turk  was  willing  to  exert,  resulted  in  great  opportunities  for 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  GOVERNMENT. 


249 

those  who  were  willing"  to  work — and  laziness  has  never  been 
a  general  vice  of  any  of  the  Christian  populations  of  the 
Levant.  This  had  its  effect  in  ameliorating  the  condition  of 
the  Christians ;  at  the  same  time,  as  is  noticed  in  other 
chapters,  this  rapid  improvement  brought  with  it  increasing 
information  and  still  higher  ideas.  All  of  the  Christian  sub¬ 
jects  of  the  Sultan  began  to  feel  still  more  restive  under  the 
Moslem  tyranny,  for  that  tyranny  still  existed.  The  absence 
of  any  genuine  conception  of  reform  or  of  good  government 
in  the  Sultans  inevitably  affected  the  whole  management  of 
the  empire,  and  taxation  was  scarcely  less  severe  than  it  had 
been  in  the  past,  the  chief  improvement  being  in  the  freedom 
from  certain  other  influences  that  worked  heavily  against  the 
Christians.  Thus  it  came  about  that  there  was  perhaps  more 
restiveness  throughout  the  empire  than  there  had  been  pre¬ 
viously. 

Soon  after  the  disturbances  in  Syria,  the  Grand  Vizier,  Ali 
Pasha,  made  public  a  new  system  of  provincial  government 
in  which  each  province  was  to  have  a  Christian  vice-governor 
and  advisory  council  composed  of  Moslems  and  Christians, 
an  independent  judiciary  and  a  complete  police  force.  The 
first  application  of  this  was  to  the  province  of  the  Danube, 
including  Bulgaria,  which  was  placed  under  Mithad  Pasha, 
perhaps  the  most  aggressive  of  all  the  officials  that  Turkey 
has  ever  had.  He  carried  it  out  there  with  great  success, 
and  in  a  year  and  a  half  brigandage  was  practically  extinct 
in  the  province  ;  several  hundreds  of  miles  of  road  had  been 
built,  and  schools,  city  hospitals,  banks  and  steam  navigation 
companies  had  been  established.  In  1867  the  system  was 
ordered  to  be  applied  throughout  the  empire,  and  the  foreign 
Powers  acted  as  if  they  thought  that  the  reorganization  was 


MAHMUD  NEDIM  PASHA. 


250 

really  going  to  be  carried  out.  It  seems  scarcely  possible 
that  they  should  have  been  thoroughly  deceived  in  this,  for 
they  knew  perfectly  well  that  the  intricacy  of  the  system  of¬ 
fered  abundant  facility  for  corruption,  and  that  the  contempt 
felt  by  all  Moslems  for  any  laws  not  based  upon  the  Koran 
would  effectually  check  the  application  of  the  European  code.  . 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  whole  system  was  lifeless  from  the 
be°rinnin°\  and  with  the  death  of  Ali  Pasha  all  pretense  of 
carrying  it  out  disappeared.  He,  however,  accomplished  this 
much,  that  he  warded  off  active  interference  on  the  part  of 
Europe  for  fifteen  years.  He  was  followed  by  Mahmud 
Nedim  Pasha,  a  man  of  strong  individuality,  who  claimed 
that  the  Sultan  could  brook  no  interference  of  Europe  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  Turkey,  and  announced  his  determination 
to  govern  upon  the  principle  that  Western  civilization  is  in¬ 
herently  unfit  for  the  needs  of  Eastern  races.  In  this  he  had 
the  cordial  support  of  the  Turks,  and  more  significant  still, 
of  the  Russian  Ambassador  at  Constantinople,  General 
Ignatief,  probably  the  shrewdest  representative  that  Russia 
ever  had  at  the  Sublime  Porte,  and  one  to  whom  perhaps 
more  than  to  any  one  else  has  been  due  the  policy  which 
Russia  has  followed  out  unwaveringly,  of  opposing  any  ac¬ 
tive  interference  on  the  part  of  Europe  in  the  internal  man¬ 
agement  of  the  Ottoman  Government.  That  this  was 
prompted  by  any  interest  in  Turkey  no  one  will  believe.  It 
was  simply  the  plan  by  which  the  situation  was  to  grow  worse 
and  worse  until  it  became  inevitable  for  Russia  herself  to 
intervene  and  take  what  she  desired. 

The  results  of  this  were  soon  manifest.  In  the  summer  of 
1875  commenced  revolt  in  Herzegovina,  extending  to  Bosnia. 
Already  there  had  been  disturbance  in  the  Danubian  Prov- 


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THE  CITY  OF  MARSOVAN  IN  ASIA  MINOR.  The  white  houses  are  the  buildings  occupied  by  the 
American  missionaries,  also  Anatolia  College.  The  roofs  of  the  houses  are  chiefly  of  curved  tiles.  The  bac  groun 
furnishes  a  good  idea  of  the  general  hill  region  of  the  country.  Marsovan  was  the  seat  of  some  disturbances  ear  y 


FRESH  DISTURBANCES. 


253 


inces  resulting  in  an  increased  independency;  then  came 
the  famous  Andrassy  note,  in  which  Austria  demanded  re¬ 
forms  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  opposed  by  the  Turks  as 
derogatory  to  their  honor.  Meanwhile  Russian  embassies 
were  at  work  throughout  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  Bul¬ 
garians  on  every  hand  were  being  roused  to  a  pitch  of  in¬ 
tense  hostility  to  Turkish  rule.  Then  came  Russian  pro¬ 
posals  skilfully  arranged  in  such  form  as  to  arouse  hostility 
rather  than  the  support  of  the  other  Powers  and  also  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Turks.  The  result  was  a  series  of  arbitrary 
arrests  of  Bulgarians,  the  sending  of  troops  into  Bulgaria 
and  the  providing  of  Moslems  with  arms  for  use  in  case  of 
the  arising  of  the  Christians.  Then  came  an  outbreak  in 
Salonica,  when  the 'European  consuls  were  beaten  to  death 
by  a  fanatic  mob,  followed  by  a  general  movement  through¬ 
out  Bulgaria  attended  by  an  outbreak  of  Softas  in  Constanti¬ 
nople.  The  utter  incapacity  of  Abd-ul-Aziz  was  more  and 
more  evident,  and  there  was  a  revolt  under  the  lead  of  Mithad 
Pasha.  A  fetvah  was  secured  from  the  Sheik-ul-Islam, 
Abd-ul-Aziz  was  dethroned,  and  notwithstanding  the  intrigues 
that  had  been  going  on  for  several  years  in  favor  of  his  own 
son,  the  legal  heir,  Murad,  his  nephew  and  the  son  of  Abd-ul- 
Medjid,  became  Sultan.  Meanwhile  the  atrocities  in  Bul¬ 
garia  continued  and  it  became  evident  that  Murad  was  un¬ 
equal  to  the  task.  Abd-ul-Aziz  had  been  assassinated,  as  was 
generally  understood,  as  were  also  some  of  the  ministers. 
The  whole  situation  in  Constantinople  was  chaos  when  Abd-ul- 
Hamid  II  came  to  the  throne.  At  this  time  Servia  declared 
war,  and  the  situation  throughout  the  empire  became  more 
and  more  serious.  Abd-ul-Hamid  banished  Mithad  Pasha 
and  convened  the  first  Turkish  Parliament.  For  a  while  it 


254 


RUSSIA  DECLARES  WAR. 


seemed  as  if  something  were  going  to  be  done,  but  nego¬ 
tiations  were  followed  by  protocols,  protocols  by  protests, 
and  in  April,  1887,  Russia  declared  war,  feeling  that  there 
would  be  no  great  opposition  to  the  advance  of  her  army 
which  she  had  been  massing  in  Bessarabia.  The  story  of  the 
war  that  followed,  both  in  Eastern  Turkey  and  on  the  Danube, 
is  familiar.  The  determined  opposition  of  the  Turkish 
troops,  the  defense  of  Plevna,  the  storming  of  the  Shipka  Pass 
and  the  final  advance  through  Bulgaria,  until  the  Russian 
army  had  captured  Adrianople  and  was  massed  on  the  very 
outskirts  of  Constantinople,  formed  a  panorama  of  intense  in¬ 
terest.  All  this  was  watched  with  great  interest  and  some 
solicitude  by  Europe,  which  came  to  realize  that  Russia  was 
on  the  point  of  securing  the  end  that  she  had  had  in  view 
for  so  long.  England  was  the  only  power  to  act  and  her 
fleet  was  anchored  in  Besika  Bay,  just  outside  of  the  Dar¬ 
danelles.  The  armistice  and  terms  of  peace  between  Turkey 
and  Russia,  forming  the  basis  of  the  treaty  of  San  Stephano, 
were  signed  at  Adrianople  January  31st;  the  treaty  itself  at 
San  Stefano,  within  sight  of  Constantinople,  March  3d,  1878. 
The  conditions  comprised  the  establishment  of  a  principality 
of  Bulgaria,  the  payment  of  a  war  indemnity  or  a  terri¬ 
torial  compensation  ;  the  independence  of  Rumania,  Servia 
and  Montenegro,  with  an  increase  of  territory  for  each  of  the 
principalities,  the  introduction  of  reforms  in  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  and  ulterior  understanding  between  the  Sultan 
and  the  Czar  in  regard  to  the  Straits  and  the  evacuation  by 
the  Turks  of  the  fortresses  of  the  Danube.  As  soon  as  this 
became  known  England  was  alarmed  and  the  fleet  was  sent 
through  the  Dardanelles,  and  for  the  second  time  in  history 
anchored  at  the  Princes'  Islands. 


A  HALT  CALLED. 


255 


It  has  been  a  subject  of  much  discussion,  why  Russia  did 
not  improve  her  opportunity,  and  seize  Constantinople  when 
it  was  in  her  power.  She  could  have  done  this  with  compara¬ 
tive  ease,  at  least  so  many  think.  Others  claim  that  the 
Turks  were  in  condition  to  offer  considerable  resistance  still, 
and  that  Russia  knew  very  well  that  Europe,  especially 
England,  would  not  permit  her  to  carry  out  the  plan  without 
war.  For  this  certainly  she  was  not  prepared.  So  also  there 
were  many  questions  in  regard  to  partition  of  the  empire 
which  may  well  have  made  her  hesitate,  and  of  which  mention 
will  be  made  in  a  later  chapter  on  the  general  question  of  the 
partition  of  the  empire.  Whatever  were  the  reasons,  a  halt 
was  called.  Then  came  the  field  of  diplomacy.  England  and 
Austria,  through  their  Ambassadors  at  St.  Petersburg  and 
Constantinople,  announced  that  they  would  refuse  to  recog¬ 
nize  conditions  of  peace  in  contravention  of  the  terms  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  except  as  Europe  had  an  opportunity  to  con¬ 
sider  them.  Russia  declared  that  all  such  terms  would  be 
submitted  to  a  review  by  the  Powers.  Finally  a  Conference 
of  the  Powers  was  called,  first  at  Vienna,  then  at  Baden-Baden, 
and  finally  at  Berlin.  A  difficulty  arose  in  regard  to  the  sub¬ 
mission  to  the  Conference  of  the  entire  treaty  of  San  Stephano. 
This  was  demanded  by  England  and  refused  by  Russia.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  as  if  war  was  imminent,  but  at  last  a  general 
agreement  having  been  reached  by  mutual  conference  between 
Russia,  England  and  Austria,  the  representatives  of  England, 
Austria,  Russia,  France,  Italy  and  Turkey  met  at  Berlin  in 
June,  1878,  and  remained  one  month,  the  Treaty  being  signed 
upon  the  13th  of  July.  Its  main  points  may  be  summarized 
as  follows : 

1.  Bulgaria,  including  Sophia,  to  be  constituted  a  tributary 


256  POINTS  OF  THE  BERLIN  TREATY. 

principality  of  the  Sultan,  ruled  by  a  prince  and  an  elected 
assembly,  and  to  be  organized  under  a  Russian  Commissary 
General  assisted  by  delegates  from  the  European  Powers. 
The  period  of  organization  not  to  exceed  nine  months. 

2.  A  province  called  Eastern  Rumelia  to  be  formed  on  the 
south  of  the  Balkans,  and  to  be  governed  by  a  Christian  under 
the  orders  of  the  Sultan.  The  organization  of  this  province 
to  be  under  control  of  a  commission  appointed  by  the 
European  Powers.  Russian  troops,  not  to  exceed  50,000  in 
number,  to  occupy  Bulgaria  and  Eastern  Rumelia  during 
nine  months,  and  to  fully  evacuate  both  provinces  within  three 
months  after  this  period. 

3.  Administrative  modifications  promised  in  1868  to  be  in¬ 
troduced  in  the  island  of  Crete.  Similar  modifications  to  be 
introduced  in  the  administration  of  all  the  provinces  of 
European  Turkey  which  are  not  otherwise  provided  for. 
These  details  of  this  reorganization  to  be  submitted  to  the 
European  Commission  charged  with  the  organization  of 
Eastern  Rumelia. 

4.  If  Greece  and  Turkey  fail  to  agree  upon  the  ratification 
of  the  frontier  indicated  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Congress, 
the  Powers  reserve  the  right  to  offer  mediation  to  the  two 

o 

parties. 

5.  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  to  be  occupied  by  Austria. 

6.  Montenegro  to  be  constituted  an  independent  principal¬ 
ity,  with  enlargement  of  territory  (equal  in  amount  to  its 
whole  previous  area),  including  the  seaport  of  Antivari,  but 
not  to  be  allowed  to  hold  either  ships  or  flags  of  war,  and  its 
ports  to  be  controlled  by  Austrian  revenue  cutters. 

7.  Servia  to  be  constituted  an  independent  principality,  with 
large  additions  of  territory  on  the  south  and  east. 


1  1 


BRITISH  TREATY  WITH  THE  PORTE. 


^57 


8.  Rumania  to  be  constituted  an  independent  principality, 
to  cede  to  Russia  the  portion  of  Bessarabia  taken  from  Russia 
by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1856,  and  to  receive  in  exchange 
the  district  of  the  Dobruja. 

9.  Kars,  Ardahan  and  Batum  to  be  ceded  by  Turkey  to 
Russia,  and  Katour  to  Persia. 

10.  The  Turkish  Government  to  introduce  without  delay 
suitable  measures  of  reform  in  all  districts  inhabited  by 
Armenians. 

11.  Absolute  religious  liberty  to  exist  in  all  the  territories 
referred  to  above,  including  the  whole  Turkish  Empire. 

The  gain  of  Turkey,  by  the  substitution  of  the  treaty  of 
Berlin  for  that  of  San  Stephano,  was  in  the  territories  cut  by 
this  new  treaty  from  the  principalities  erected  by  the  older 
one,  and  in  the  substitution  of  a  European  supervision  for  a 
Russian  supervision  of  the  execution  of  the  treaty. 

Meanwhile  other  negotiations  had  been  going  on,  and  just 
before  the  close  of  the  Congress  the  British  Government 
announced  a  treaty  concluded  with  the  Porte  consisting  of  the 
following  Articles  : 

“Article  I.  If  Batum,  Ardahan,  Kars,  or  any  of  them,  shall 
be  retained  by  Russia,  and  if  any  attempt  shall  be  made  at 
any  future  time  by  Russia  to  take  possession  of  any  further 
territories  of  his  Imperial  Majesty  the  Sultan  in  Asia,  as  fixed 
by  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace,  England  engages  to  join  his 
Imperial  Majesty  the  Sultan  in  defending  them  by  force  of 
arms. 

“  In  return,  his  Imperial  Majesty  the  Sultan  promises  to 
England  to  introduce  necessary  reforms,  to  be  agreed  upon 
later  between  the  two  Powers,  into  the  government,  and  for 
the  protection  of  the  Christian  and  other  subjects  of  the 


258 


TURKISH  CHRISTIANS  JUBILANT. 


Porte  in  these  territories ;  and  in  order  to  enable  England 
to  make  necessary  provision  for  executing  her  engagement, 
his  Imperial  Majesty  the  Sultan  further  consents  to  assign 
the  Island  of  Cyprus  to  be  occupied  and  administered  by 
England. 

“Article  II.  The  present  convention  shall  be  ratified,  and 
the  ratifications  thereof  shall  be  exchanged,  within  the  space 
of  one  month,  or  sooner  if  possible. ” 

To  all  appearance  England  had  triumphed.  Not  only  had 
the  treaty  of  San  Stephano  been  set  aside,  but  the  Sultan  had 
practically  recognized  her  as  his  most  potent  and  most  influen¬ 
tial  ally.  The  prestige  lost  during  twenty  years  of  misman¬ 
agement  had  suddenly  by  a  master  stroke  been  regained,  and 
all  the  Christians  of  Turkey  were  jubilant.  The  new  Sultan 
was  looked  upon  as  a  mild  man  thoroughly  desirous  of  the 
good  of  his  people,  and  there  were  the  brightest  anticipations  of 
genuine  reform.  At  this  point  it  will  be  advantageous  to  look 
at  the  constitution  of  the  Turkish  Government. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Condition  of  the  Christians. 


The  Christians  under  Early  Moslem  Rule — Mohammed  II — General  Oppression — Protec¬ 
tion  by  French  Government — Russian  Intrigue — Power  of  the  Greek  Church — Reforms 
under  Mahmud  II  and  Abd-ul-Medjid — The  Hatti  Humayoun — General  Improvement 
Throughout  the  Empire. 

UP  to  the  time  of  the  capture  of  Constantinople,  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  the  Moslem  Sultans  to  the  Christians  were 
simply  those  of  tyrants,  who  collected  what  they  could  and 
recognized  no  rights  of  any  kind  on  the  part  of  those  who 
refused  to  accept  Islam.  The  fact,  however,  that  there  was 
scarcely  any  organized  government  of  any  kind  made  matters 
worse,  and  soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  dynasty,  even 
as  for  back  as  1360,  just  after  the  death  of  Orchan,  it  is  said 
that  some  Armenian  refugees  came  to  Edward  III,  at  Reading, 
made  complaint  that  the  Mussulmans  were  trying  to  extermi¬ 
nate  their  people,  and  asked  leave  to  live  in  England  and 
collect  subscriptions  for  their  fellow-sufferers.  The  king 
granted  the  petition,  took  the  Armenians  under  his  protection, 
but  only  so  long  as  the  protected  should  do  nothing  injurious 
to  his  realm,  and  should  “  bear  themselves  in  true  faith  and 
honesty.”  But  it  was  not  only  the  Armenians  who  suffered. 

On  both  sides  of  the  Bosporus  and  the  Dardanelles  the 

(259) 


2,6o 


CONVERSION  BY  FORCE. 


Greeks  felt  the  pressure  of  Ottoman  power,  and  the  situation 
all  through  southeastern  Europe  was  one  of  terror. 

Among  the  greatest  causes  for  suffering  was  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  the  Janissaries.  So  long  as  Christian  captives  were 
constantly  being  taken,  every  fifth  captive  was  claimed  for  the 
Sultan’s  service.  The  most  robust  and  handsome  were 
trained  for  the  regular  military  service,  and  formed  the  basis 
of  the  famous  body  of  Janissaries.  Later,  when  the  extension 
of  dominion  put  a  stop  to  this  source  of  supply,  a  tax  was  laid 
by  which  every  fifth  male  child  of  the  Christian  population 
of  the  empire  was  converted  by  force  and  added  to  this  com¬ 
pany,  until  it  has  been  estimated  that  in  the  course  of  three 
centuries  not  less  than  five  million  Christian  children  were 
sacrificed  to  this  policy  of  the  Sultans.  The  effect  was  two¬ 
fold  ;  it  kept  the  Christian  peoples  in  a  constant  state  of  sub¬ 
jection  and  terror,  and  it  served  as  a  heavy  tax  upon  their 
actual  strength  by  removing  the  most  virile  portion  of  the 
population. 

With  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  there  was  a  measure 
of  relief  in  the  situation.  Yet  in  one  aspect  it  became 
even  worse.  Under  the  policy  of  Mohammed  II,  by  which  he 
sought  to  strengthen  his  capital,  there  was  formed  a  group  of 
Greeks  associated  with  the  Patriarchs,  to  whom  was  granted 
a  special  section  of  the  city  called  then  and  still  the  Phanar 
or  Fanar.  These  Fanariotes  became  notorious  for  their 
intrigues  and  unreliability.  Their  relations  with  the  Ottomans 
seemed  to  develop  the  very  worst  elements  of  the  Greek 
character,  and  there  commenced  under  them  that  style  of  life 
which  has  done  more  to  deerade  the  Christians  of  the  Levant 
than  almost  anything  else.  One  illustration  of  this  is  seen 
in  the  fact  of  the  very  great  number  of  Turkish  officials  of 


POLITICAL  INFLUENCES. 


26l 


Christian  origin.  Under  Mohammed,  of  five  grand  viziers  four 
were  Christians — two  Greeks  and  two  Illyrians;  under  Sulei¬ 
man  the  Magnificent,  of  nine  grand  viziers  eight  were  of 
Christian  origin.  With  such  opportunities  opened  for  advance¬ 
ment  and  wealth,  the  great  surprise  is,  not  that  there  were  so 
many  defections,  but  that  there  were  so  few.  The  recognition 
of  the  overpowering  tyranny  of  the  government,  the  realiza¬ 
tion  that  that  tyranny  could  be  averted  only  by  catering  to 
the  passions  or  the  cupidity  of  the  ruling  class,  developed  a 
servility  and  treachery  that  has  been  the  bane  of  the  Christian 
races  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  The  same  result  was  assisted 
by  the  peculiar  ecclesiastical  rule  which  was  established.  The 
worst  features  of  the  union  of  Church  and  State  were  mani¬ 
fest,  and  the  priests  became  even  more  political  leaders  than 
spiritual  guides. 

The  various  revolutions  noticed  in  the  preceding  chapters 
operated  also  to  bind  still  more  closely  the  chains  of  oppres¬ 
sion  upon  the  Christian  populations.  Were  it  possible  to 
learn  the  detailed  history  of  those  centuries,  undoubtedly 
instance  after  instance  would  be  given  of  heroic  defense  and 
of  loyalty  to  their  faith  on  the  part  of  every  class  and  every 
church.  On  the  other  hand,  the  barbarism  of  the  age  had  its 
effects  upon  the  Christian  chiefs,  and  both  in  Europe  and  in 
Asia,  though  especially  in  Europe,  the  Christians  of  Hungary, 
Moldavia,  Bosnia  and  Dalmatia  were  allied  to  Turkish  Pashas 
in  ferocity.' 

The  commencement  of  treaty  relations  between  Turkey 
and  the  European  powers  was  the  first  gleam  of  light  that 
came  to  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Sultans.  The  simple 
fact  that  there  were  Christians  recognized  as.  having  rights, 

o  00 

in  itself  gave  some  encouragement,  even  to  those  who  did 


2  62 


FRENCH  INFLUENCE. 


not  share  in  the  immediate  benefits  accorded  to  those  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  appearance 
of  Catholic  missions  and  convents  in  the  various  Turkish 
States,  the  protection  of  Roman  Catholic  Christians,  especially 
in  Syria,  in  their  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem,  gave  to  all  classes 
— Greeks,  Armenians,  and  others — a  degree  of  hope  that  the 
time  might  come  when  their  load  should  be  lightened.  In  the 
main,  however,  the  interest  of  Europe  was  political  rather 
than  religious,  and  for  the  most  part  the  Christians  were  so 
thoroughly  left  to  themselves  that  almost  their  only  hope  lay 
in  securing  the  friendship,  by  whatever  means  were  available, 
of  their  Moslem  rulers.  When  by  chance  there  came  a 
milder  governor,  especially  in  the  European  provinces,  the 
subject  Christians  would  be  found  willing  to  sustain  the  cause 
of  the  Turks,  and  in  more  than  one  instance  the  primates 
were  found  to  have  intrigued  in  favor  of  the  Porte.  The 
French  Ambassador,  De  Breves,  rendered  noble  service  when, 
in  Constantinople,  he  threw  himself  between  the  infuriated 
Janissaries  and  the  churches  of  Galata,  declaring  that  he 
would  defend  at  the  peril  of  his  life  the  exercise  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  religion  ;  so  also  when  he  averted  an  initial  massacre  at 
Scio  and  preserved  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  to  the 
Christian  faith.  It  was  no  vain  boast  he  made  when  he 
claimed  to  have  given  liberty  to  from  one  thousand  to  twelve 
hundred  men  who  had  been  made  slaves  at  different  times. 

A  picture  of  the  condition  of  the  Christians  a  century  after 
the  capture  of  Constantinople  is  given  by  a  traveler,  who 
describes  them  in  1571  as  so  depraved  and  degraded  that 
they  hardly  dared  look  a  Turk  in  the  face;  the  only  care 
of  their  listless  existence  being  to  raise  enough  for  their 
maintenance  and  pay  the  kharadj  and  poll  tax — all  beyond 


JESUIT  INTRIGUES. 


263 


would  be  seized  by  the  Turks.  In  Constantinople  only  was 
there  any  security,  and  here  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century 
it  is  said  that  there  were  not  less  than  100,000  of  them, 
many  of  whom  acquired  wealth  either  by  trade  or  farming 
the  revenues.  One  such  was  reported  to  have  the  fate  of 
whole  provinces  in  his  hands,  and  the  splendor  of  his  palace 
rivalled  that  of  the  Sultan. 

It  was  perhaps  in  view  of  this  condition  that  the  French 
ambassador,  De  Breves,  in  presenting  his  defense  of  the 
Franco-Turkish  alliance  dwelt  to  a  considerable  extent  on  the 
advantage  accruing  to  the  Christian  population  from  the 
French  influence.  He  dwelt  upon  the  number  of  monasteries 
permitted  by  the  Sultan  in  Constantinople,  colleges  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  Jesuits,  the  number  of  bishops  in  the  different 
Turkish  States  and  the  honor  coming  to  the  French  name 
by  the  securing  of  the  protection  of  the  Holy  Places.  But 
it  was  not  only  the  Roman  Catholics  that  he  felt  would  be 
benefited.  Reference  was  specially  made  to  the  Greek  and 
Armenian  Christians  and  to  the  Copts  of  Egypt,  all  of  whom 
in  their  pressing  necessities  and  terrible  oppression  were 
glad  to  have  recourse  to  the  powerful  support  of  the  French 
kings.  In  connection  with  this  French  influence  commenced 
Jesuit  intrigues,  and  the  priests  already  conceived  great  pro¬ 
jects  for  the  re-establishment  of  Roman  Catholicism  in  the 
East.  The  English  ambassador  denounced  them  as  spies  of 
Spain  and  alarmed  the  Turkish  Government;  so  they  were 
arrested  and  imprisoned.  Their  release  was  immediately 
secured,  but  the  Ottoman  Government  did  not  hesitate  to 
declare  that  it  preferred  to  see  ten  ordinary  priests  rather 
than  one  Jesuit  in  Constantinople.  So  much  did  this  preju¬ 
dice  increase  that  a  few  years  later,  notwithstanding  the 


FANATICAL  FURY. 


264 

utmost  efforts  of  the  French  Ambassador,  the  Jesuits  were 
banished  from  Constantinople  for  the  period  of  twelve  years. 
At  about  this  same  time,,  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  we  find  the  Armenians  developing  considerable 
influence.  They  had  spread  throughout  Asia  Minor  and  had 
increased  their  colony  in  Jerusalem  to  such  a  degree  that 
they  had  forced  the  Catholic  monks  from  the  Holy  Places  at 
Bethlehem  and  taken  possession  of  them  themselves,  only  in 
turn  to  be  removed  on  appeal  to  the  French  Government. 
Perhaps  on  account  partly  of  the  aggressive  action  of  some 
of  the  French  ambassadors,  at  about  the  same  time,  free 
reins  seem  to  have  been  given  to  the  fanatical  fury  of  the 
Ottomans  against  the  Christians  in  different  parts  of  the 
empire,  and  even  in  Constantinople  itself  the  churches  were 
closed  and  terror  reigned  everywhere.  Sultan  Ibrahim  I 
gave  way  to  such  furious  anger  in  consequence  of  some 
European  successes,  that  he  resolved  to  exterminate  all  the 
Christians  in  the  empire.  This,  however,  was  limited,  on  the 
representation  of  the  Moslem  Mufti  to  Europeans  only,  and 
next,  under  the  protest  of  his  ministers,  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  priests.  The  order  for  these  massacres  was  given, 
and  for  several  days  the  Franks  dwelling  in  Constantinople 
believed  themselves  doomed  to  certain  death.  It  was,  how¬ 
ever,  revoked  after  much  diplomatic  pressure. 

The  general  effect  of  all  this  was  to  stir  the  Catholic 
world  and  arouse  the  religious  zeal  even  in  France  for  war 
against  the  infidels,  and  this  had  no  slight  influence  upon  the 
strange  vicissitudes  of  Turco-European  diplomacy,  all  of 
which  accomplished  practically  little  for  the  general  welfare  of 
the  Christians.  The  war  in  Hungary  resulted  in  the  carrying 
of  nearly  80,000  Christians  into  slavery  and  the  general  con- 


GREEK  CHURCH. 


265 

dition  was  most  deplorable.  Occasionally  there  was  a  little 
relief  when  such  men  as  the  Kuprulis  held  sway  and  intro¬ 
duced  certain  modifications  of  the  bitterness  of  Moslem  rule 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Sultan,  but  in 
the  main  fanaticism  ruled  and  the  Christian  was  looked  upon 
in  the  typical  Moslem  style,  as  a  mere  slave  who  had  no 
rights  of  any  kind,  simply  duties. 

With  the  peace  of  Carlowitz  came  into  prominence  the 
power  of  the  Greek  Church.  Already  there  had  been  more 
or  less  of  conflict,  but  now  that  assumed  very  great  propor¬ 
tions.  Not  that  there  was  much  of  Christianity  in  it.  The  be¬ 
lief  professed  by  the  people  and  even  by  the  priests  was 
probably  the  most  superstitious  form  of  the  faith  that  had 
ever  been  set  forth.  The  church,  however,  was  led  by  men 
and  women  of  great  power,  and  their  Christianity,  even 
though  largely  destitute  of  moral  power,  was  available  for 
some  mitigation  of  the  sufferings  of  those  at  least  whom  they 
recognized  as  akin  in  Christian  faith.  As  early  as  1670  an 
English  historian  calls  attention  to  fact  that  the  Greeks 
throughout  the  empire  turned  to  the  Russian  as  their  protec¬ 
tor  and  claimed  that  according  to  all  their  prophecies,  ancient 
and  modern,  he  was  destined  to  be  the  restorer  of  their 
church  and  their  freedom.  This  feeling  was  industriously 
strengthened  by  Russian  emissaries.  The  Czar  issued  a 
proclamation  guaranteeing  to  the  Moldo-Wallachians  the 
exclusive  exercise  of  the  Greek  religion.  A  bishop  was  seen 
at  Jerusalem  circulating  a  report  that  the  Turks  would  be 
driven  out  of  Europe  by  the  Russian  nation,  and  Peter 
evidently  hoped  for  a  revolt  of  all  the  adherents  of  the 
Greek  religion.  This  mingling  of  politics  with  religion,  how¬ 
ever,  accomplished  very  little  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 

16 


266 


A  DOOR  OF  HOPE. 


people.  Indeed  in  some  respects  it  seems  to  have  made  it 
worse.  It  roused  the  suspicions  of  the  Turkish  rulers,  and 
wherever  they  were  naturally  under  the  influence  of  fanati¬ 
cism  it  assisted  rather  than  hindered  the  practice  of  outrag¬ 
eous  oppression.  Especially  was  this  true  in  the  interior 
provinces.  Whatever  of  relief  came  was  upon  the  borders.  In 
Constantinople,  Smyrna  and  in  Syria  there  was  some  pretence 
of  protection.  But  inland  this  disappeared  entirely,  and  the 
description  given  in  previous  chapters  of  the  general  de¬ 
moralization  of  the  Turkish  Empire  emphasizes  the  terrible 
condition  of  the  Christian  population.  That  they  retained 
their  faith  and  even  their  national  unity  is  a  marvelous  tribute 
to  their  character  and  to  the  genuineness — if  ignorant  and 
superstitious — of  their  religious  belief. 

Still  there  was  growth  and  the  treaty  of  Kainardji  in  1774, 
as  it  opened  a  wide  door  for  Russian  usurpation,  opened 
also  a  wide  door  of  hope  for  the  Christian  population.  The 
promise  of  the  Porte  to  protect  the  Christian  religion  and  its 
churches,  although  vague,  really  accomplished  something,  and 
even  those  who  refused  any  association  with  the  Greek 
Church  reaped,  perhaps  to  a  slightly  better  degree,  the  bene¬ 
fits  of  their  fellows.  The  most,  however,  that  can  be  said  is 
very  little,  and  the  general  condition  of  the  Christian  popula¬ 
tion  of  the  Turkish  Empire  at  the  close  of  the  last  century 
and  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Mahmud  was  one  of 
intense  suffering. 

About  this  time  the  Christians  were  distributed  in  the  main 
as  at  present.  The  Greeks  occupied  the  coast  both  of  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  Mediterranean,  extending  somewhat  inland 
from  Smyrna  and  Adana  and  occupying  villages  in  Central 
Asia  Minor  ;  the  Armenians  in  largest  numbers  in  their 


GREEK  INSURRECTION. 


267 

ancestral  country,  Erzrum,  extended  from  the  eastern  end 
of  the  Black  Sea  south  to  the  region  of  Van.  They  were 
also  found  in  increasing  numbers  throughout  Asia  Minor  and 
Northern  Syria.  The  Syrians  of  Mesopotamia  had  fled  to  a 
considerable  extent  to  the  mountains  where  they  led  a  sort  of 
feudal  life,  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  the  Kurds  sur¬ 
rounding  them;  those  on  the  Mesopotamia  plain,  Syrians  or 
Chaldeans,  were  constantly  subject  to  the  oppression  of  the 
Pashas ;  the  Maronites  of  Syria  occupied  the  Lebanon 
heights  and  the  Copts  were  in  the  towns  of  the  Nile  valley. 
In  European  Turkey  attention  was  mostly  drawn  to  the  Ser¬ 
vians  and  Wallachians  ;  the  Bulgarians  had  as  yet  not  attained 

any  such  national  power  as  to  bring  them  particularly  into 
prominence. 

The  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Mahmud  II  accomplished 
very  little  for  the  Christians.  Attention  was  directed  more 
especially  to  the  Greeks  and  their  efforts  for  independence, 
and  foreign  nations  were  too  absorbed  in  their  international 
politics  to  pay  much  attention  to  the  general  condition  of  the 
Sultan  s  Christian  subjects.  The  Greek  insurrection  brought 
heavy  loss  upon  their  communities,  and  the  massacre  at  Scio, 
which  left  scarce  900  out  of  100,000,  startled  the  whole  Chris¬ 
tian  world  and  operated  strongly  to  bring  about  the  inde¬ 
pendence  of  Greece,  just  as,  later,  the  Bulgarian  massacres 
resulted  in  an  independent  Bulgaria.  Mahmud’s  ideas  were 
tolerant.  He  realized  the  value  to  the  state  of  the  ability  and 
shrewdness  of  his  Christian  subjects,  as  is  shown  by  his  calling 
numbers  of  Armenians  to  hold  positions  of  influence  in  the 
government,  and  had  he  been  free  to  act  as  he  desired,  un¬ 
doubtedly  their  condition  would  have  been  very  much  amelio¬ 
rated,  As  it  was,  it  improved.  One  influence  that  worked 


268 


GOLDEN  ERA. 


in  this  direction  was  the  arrival  of  the  American  missionaries 
at  Constantinople  in  1831  and  their  subsequent  rapid  spread 
over  the  empire.  The  first  effect  indeed  seemed  unfortunate. 
The  preaching  of  evangelical  ideas  aroused  the  bitterest 
hostility  of  the  Armenian  and  Greek  ecclesiastics,  and  appeared 
to  increase  the  difficulties.  This  very  fact,  however,  aroused 
attention,  and  the  persecution  of  the  Evangelicals  called  out 
the  sympathies  of  Lord  Stratford,  who,  though  always  holding 
an  impartial  position,  never  allowing  himself  to  appear  as  the 
special  defender  of  the  missionaries,  was  able  to  bring  to  bear 
considerable  influence  in  favor  of  religious  liberty  and  thus 
improve  the  general  condition  of  the  people.  The  war  with 
Mehemet  Ali  and  his  son,  Ibrahim  Pasha,  was  felt  very 
severely  by  the  interior  Christian  communities,  and  when 
Mahmud  II  died,  in  1839,  there  seemed  little  hope  of  great 
improvement. 

The  reign  of  Abd-ul-Medjid,  1839-1861,  was,  at  least,  so  far 
as  the  Christians  were  concerned,  the  golden  era  of  the 
Ottoman  Sultans.  He  inherited  his  father’s  liberal  ideas,  and 
furthermore  had  the  good  sense  to  call  to  his  aid  some  of  the 
best  statesmen  that  Turkey  has  known,  men  who  cordially 
endorsed  his  schemes  for  the  general  improvement  of  the 
situation  in  the  empire.  Almost  his  first  act  was  the  promul¬ 
gation  of  the  Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhane,  a  charter  of  equal 
rights  for  all  subjects  of  the  Sultan.  This  was  chiefly  political 
in  its  scope,  having  regard  to  the  relations  between  the  subject 
and  the  government,  and  is  noticed  somewhat  at  length  in  the 
chapter  on  Reforms  and  Progress.  It  was  noticeable  chiefly, 
so  far  as  the  Christians  were  concerned,  for  its  recognition  of 
their  right  to  the  same  protection  and  justice  which  was 
accorded  to  Moslems.  The  difficulty  of  carrying  out  any  such 


SULTAN  OF  TURKEY.  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  II  is  now  fifty-four  years 
old.  Personally,  he  is  a  man  with  whom  intercourse  is  extremely  pleasant.  His 
position  has  been  a  very  difficult  one,  and  he  by  identifying  himself  with  the 
reactionary  party  has  made  himself  responsible  for  the  terrible  outrages  in  his 
empire. 


AUDIENCE  AT  THE  PALACE.  The  Sultan  and  his  Grand  Vizier  are  giving  audience  to  Sir  Phillip  Currie, 
and  his  secretary.  The  room  is  in  the  palace  of  Dolma  Baghtche,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  richly  ornamented 
in  the  world.  The  attendant  standing  is  an  interpreter  or  palace  official. 


HATTI  HUMAYOUN. 


271 


scheme  as  this  was  made  evident  by  the  terrible  massacres 
which  occurred  in  Eastern  Turkey,  when  the  Nestorians  and 
Jacobites  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Badir  Khan  Bey  and  his 
Turkish  hordes  (see  chapter  on  the  Nestorians).  In  general, 
however,  there  was  peace,  and  on  every  hand  the  condition 
of  the  Christian  population  improved. 

In  1853  appeared  a  firman  recognizing  the  Protestant  com¬ 
munity  and  giving  them  all  the  rights  belonging  to  any  other 
Christian  race.  This  was  a  great  advance  in  the  recognition 
of  the  principle  of  religious  liberty,  and  paved  the  way  for  the 
next  step. 

In  1856  appeared  the  most  notable  proclamation  ever  issued 
by  a  Moslem  ruler,  the  Hatti  Humayoun.  This  was  specially 
for  the  Christian  races,  and  on  account  of  its  great  importance 
as  well  as  general  interest,  is  given  below  in  full. 

HATTI  HUMAYOUN. 

“  Let  it  be  done  as  herein  set  forth.* 

“To  you,  my  Grand  Vizier,  Mohammed  Emin  Ali  Pasha,  decorated  with 
my  imperial  order  of  the  medjidieh  of  the  first  class,  and  with  the  order  of 
personal  merit ;  may  God  grant  to  you  greatness  and  increase  your  power. 

“  It  has  always  been  my  most  earnest  desire  to  insure  the  happiness  of  all 
classes  of  the  subjects  whom  Divine  Providence  has  placed  under  my  im¬ 
perial  sceptre,  and  since  my  accession  to  the  throne  I  have  not  ceased  to  di¬ 
rect  all  my  efforts  to  the  attainment  of  that  end. 

“Thanks  to  the  Almighty,  these  unceasing  efforts  have  already  been  pro¬ 
ductive  of  numerous  useful  results.  From  day  to  day  the  happiness  of  the 
nation  and  the  wealth  of  my  dominions  go  on  augmenting. 

“  It  being  now  my  desire  to  renew  and  enlarge  still  more  the  new  institu¬ 
tions  ordained  with  a  view  of  establishing  a  state  of  things  conformable 
with  the  dignity  of  my  empire  and  the  position  which  it  occupies  among 
civilized  nations,  and  the  rights  of  my  empire  having,  by  the  fidelity  and 

*  These  words,  written  by  the  Sultan’s  own  hand,  constitute  the  decree  a  Hatti  Hu¬ 
mayoun. 


PRIVILEGES  SECURED. 


272 

praiseworthy  efforts  of  all  my  subjects,  and  by  the  kind  and  friendly  assist¬ 
ance  of  the  great  powers,  my  noble  allies,  received  from  abroad  a  confir¬ 
mation  which  will  be  the  commencement  of  a  new  era,  it  is  my  desire  to 
augment  its  well-being  and  prosperity,  to  effect  the  happiness  of  all  my  sub¬ 
jects,  who  in  my  sight  are  all  equal,  and  equally  dear  to  me,  and  who  are 
united  to  each  other  by  the  cordial  ties  of  patriotism,  and  to  insure  the 
means  of  daily  increasing  the  prosperity  of  my  empire. 

“I  have  therefore  resolved  upon,  and  I  order  the  execution  of  the  fol¬ 
lowing  measures : 

“  The  guarantees  promised  on  our  part  by  the  Iiatti  Humayoun  of  Gul- 
hane  (No.  188),  and  in  conformity  with  the  Tanzimat  (scheme  of  reform), 
to  all  the  subjects  of  my  empire,  without  distinction  of  classes  or  of  religion, 
for  the  security  of  their  persons  and  property,  and  the  preservation  of  their 
honor,  are  to-day  confirmed  and  consolidated,  and  efficacious  measures  shall 
be  taken  in  order  that  they  may  have  their  full,  entire  effect. 

“All  the  privileges  and  spiritual  immunities  granted  by  my  ancestors  ab 
antiquo ,  and  at  subsequent  dates,  to  all  Christian  communities  or  other  non- 
Mussulman  persuasions  established  in  my  empire,  under  my  protection,  shall 
be  confirmed  and  maintained. 

“  Every  Christian  or  other  non-Mussulman  community  shall  be  bound 
within  a  fixed  period,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  a  commission  composed 
ad  hoc  of  members  of  its  own  body,  to  proceed,  with  my  high  approbation  and 
under  the  inspection  of  my  Sublime  Porte,  to  examine  into  its  actual  im¬ 
munities  and  privileges,  and  to  discuss  and  submit  to  my  Sublime  Porte  the 
reforms  required  by  the  progress  of  civilization  and  of  the  age.  The  powers 
conceded  to  the  Christian  patriarchs  and  bishops  by  the  Sultan  Mohammed 
II,  and  by  his  successors,  shall  be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  new  position 
which  my  generous  and  beneficent  intentions  insure  to  those  communities. 

“The  principle  of  nominating  the  patriarchs  for  life,  after  the  revision  of 
the  rule  of  election  now  in  force,  shall  be  exactly  carried  out,  conformably 
to  the  tenor  of  their  firmans  of  investiture. 

“  The  patriarchs,  metropolitans,  archbishops,  bishops  and  rabbins  shall 
take  an  oath  on  their  entrance  into  office,  according  to  a  form  agreed  upon 
in  common  by  my  Sublime  Porte  and  the  spiritual  heads  of  the  different  re¬ 
ligious  communities.  The  ecclesiastical  dues,  of  whatever  sort  or  nature 
they  be,  shall  be  abolished  and  replaced  by  fixed  revenues  of  the  patriarchs 
and  heads  of  communities,  and  by  the  allocations  of  allowances  and  salaries 


FREE  WORSHIP.  273 

equitably  proportioned  to  the  importance,  the  rank,  and  the  dignity  of  the 
different  members  of  the  clergy. 

“  The  property,  real  or  personal,  of  the  different  Christian  ecclesiastics 
shall  remain  intact ;  the  temporal  administration  of  the  Christian  or  other 
non-Mussulman  communities  shall,  however,  be  placed  under  the  safeguard 
of  an  assembly  to  be  chosen  from  among  the  members,  both  ecclesiastics  and 
laymen,  of  the  said  communities. 

“In  the  towns,  small  boroughs,  and  villages  where  the  whole  population  is 
of  the  same  religion,  no  obstacle  shall  be  offered  to  the  repair,  according  to 
their  original  plan,  of  buildings  set  apart  for  religious  worship,  for  schools, 
for  hospitals  and  for  cemeteries. 

“  The  plans  of  these  different  buildings  in  case  of  their  new  erection,  must, 
after  having  been  approved  by  the  patriarchs  or  heads  of  communities,  be 
submitted  to  my  Sublime  Porte,  which  will  approve  of  them  by  my  imperial 
order,  or  make  known  its  observations  upon  them  within  a  certain  time. 
Each  sect,  in  localities  where  there  are  no  other  religious  denominations, 
shall  be  free  from  every  species  of  restraint  as  regards  the  public  exercise 
of  its  religion. 

“  In  the  towns,  small  boroughs,  and  villages  where  different  sects  are 
mingled  together,  each  community  inhabiting  a  distinct  quarter,  shall,  by 
conforming  to  the  above-mentioned  ordinances,  have  equal  power  to  repair 
and  improve  its  churches,  its  hospitals,  its  schools,  .and  its  cemeteries. 
When  there  is  question  of  their  erection  of  new  buildings,  the  necessary  au¬ 
thority  must  be  asked  for,  through  the  medium  of  the  patriarchs  and  heads 
of  communities  from  my  Sublime  Porte,  which  will  pronounce  a  sovereign 
decision  according  that  authority,  except  in  the  case  of  administrative  ob¬ 
stacles. 

“The  intervention  of  the  administrative  authority  in  all  measures  of  this 
nature  will  be  entirely  gratuitous.  My  Sublime  Porte  will  take  energetic 
measures  to  insure  to  each  sect,  whatever  be  the  number  of  its  adherents, 
entire  freedom  in  the  exercise  of  its  religion.  Every  distinction  or  designa¬ 
tion  tending  to  make  any  class  whatever  of  the  subjects  of  my  empire  inferior 
to  another  class,  on  account  of  their  religion,  language,  or  race,  shall  be  for¬ 
ever  effaced  from  administrative  protocol.  The  laws  shall  be  put  in  force 
against  the  use  of  any  injurious  or  offensive  term,  either  among  private  in¬ 
dividuals  or  on  the  part  of  the  authorities. 

“As  all  forms  of  religion  are  and  shall  be  freely  professed  in  my  dominions, 


274 


MIXED  TRIBUNALS. 


no  subject  of  my  empire  shall  be  hindered  in  the  exercise  of  the  religion 
that  he  professes,  nor  shall  he  be  in  any  way  annoyed  on  this  account.  No 
one  shall  be  compelled  to  change  his  religion. 

“The  nomination  and  choice  of  all  functionaries  and  other  employes  of 
my  empire  being  wholly  dependent  upon  my  sovereign  will,  all  the  subjects 
of  my  empire,  without  distinction  of  nationality,  shall  be  admissible  to  pub¬ 
lic  employments,  and  qualified  to  fill  them  according  to  their  capacity  and 
merit,  and  conformably  with  the  rules  to  be  generally  applied. 

“All  the  subjects  of  my  empire,  without  distinction,  shall  be  received  into 
the  civil  and  military  schools  of  the  government,  if  they  otherwise  satisfy 
the  conditions  as  to  age  and  examination  which  are  specified  in  the  organic 
regulations  of  the  said  schools.  Moreover,  every  community  is  authorized  to 
establish  public  schools  of  science,  art,  and  industry.  Only  the  method  of 
instruction  and  the  choice  of  professors  in  schools  of  this  class  shall  be  un¬ 
der  the  control  of  a  mixed  council  of  public  instruction,  the  members  of 
which  shall  be  named  by  my  sovereign  command. 

“All  commercial,  correctional,  and  criminal  suits  between  Mussulmans 
and  Christians,  or  other  non-Mussulman  subjects,  or  between  Christian  or 
other  non-Mussulmans  of  different  sects,  shall  be  referred  to  mixed  tribunals. 

“The  proceedings  of  these  tribunals  shall  be  public;  the  parties  shall  be 
confronted  and  shall  produce  their  witnesses,  whose  testimony  shall  be  re¬ 
ceived  without  distinction,  upon  an  oath  taken  according  to  the  religious  law 
of  each  sect. 

“Suits  relating  to  civil  affairs  shall  continue  to  be  publicly  tried,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  laws  and  regulations,  before  the  mixed  provincial  councils,  in  the 
presence  of  the  governor  and  judge  of  the  place. 

“Special  civil  proceedings,  such  as  those  relating  to  successions  or  others 
of  that  kind,  between  subjects  of  the  same  Christian  or  other  non-Mus¬ 
sulman  faith,  may,  at  the  request  of  the  parties,  be  sent  before  the  councils 
of  the  patriarchs  or  of  the  communities. 

“  Penal,  correctional,  and  commercial  laws,  and  rules  of  procedure  for  the 
mixed  tribunals,  shall  be  drawn  up  as  soon  as  possible  and  formed  into  a 
code.  Translations  of  them  shall  be  published  in  all  the  languages  current 
in  the  empire. 

“Proceedings  shall  be  taken  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  for  the  re¬ 
form  of  the  penitentiary  system  as  applied  to  houses  of  detention,  punish¬ 
ment,  or  correction,  and  other  establishments  of  like  nature,  so  as 


TAXES  AND  PROPERTY. 


275 

to  reconcile  the  rights  of  humanity  with  those  of  justice.  Corporal 
punishment  shall  not  be  administered,  even  in  the  prisons,  except  in  con¬ 
formity  with  the  disciplinary  regulations  established  by  my  Sublime  Porte; 
and  everything  that  resembles  torture  shall  be  entirely  abolished. 

“  Intractions  of  the  law  in  this  particular  shall  be  severely  repressed,  and 
shall  besides  entail,  as  of  right,  the  punishment,  in  comformity  with  the  civil 
code,  of  the  authorities  who  may  order  and  of  the  agents  who  may  commit 
them. 

“The  organization  of  the  police  in  the  capital,  in  the  provincial  towns 
and  in  the  rural  districts,  shall  be  revised  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  to  all 
the  peaceable  subjects  of  my  empire  the  strongest  guarantees  for  the  safety 
both  of  their  persons  and  property. 

“The  equality  of  taxes  entailing  equality  of  burdens,  as  equality  of 
duties  entails  that  of  rights,  Christian  subjects  and  those  of  other  non-Mus¬ 
sulman  sects,  as  it  has  been  already  decided,  shall,  as  well  as  Mussul¬ 
mans,  be  subject  to  the  obligations  of  the  law  of  recruitment. 

“The  principle  of  obtaining  substitutes,  or  of  purchasing,  shall  be 
admitted.  A  complete  law  shall  be  published,  with  as  little  delay  as  possi¬ 
ble,  respecting  the  admission  into  and  service  in  the  army  of  Christian 
and  other  non-Mussulman  subjects. 

“  Proceedings  shall  be  taken  for  a  reform  in  the  constitution  of  the  pro¬ 
vincial  and  communal  councils  in  order  to  insure  fairness  in  the  choice  of 
the  deputies  of  the  Mussulman,  Christian,  and  other  communities,  and 
freedom  of  voting  in  the  councils. 

“  My  Sublime  Porte  will  take  into  consideration  the  adoption  of  the  most 
effectual  means  for  ascertaining  exactly  and  for  controlling  the  result  of  the 
deliberations  and  of  the  decisions  arrived  at. 

“As  the  laws  regulating  the  purchase,  sale,  and  disposal  of  real  property 
are  common  to  all  the  subjects  of  my  empire,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  for¬ 
eigners  to  possess  landed  property  in  my  dominions,  conforming  themselves 
to  the  laws  and  police  regulations,  and  bearing  the  same  charges  as  the  na¬ 
tive  inhabitants,  and  after  arrangements  have  been  come  to  with  foreign 
powers.* 

*  On  the  18th  of  January,  1867,  a  law  was  passed  granting  to  foreigners  the  right  to  hold 
real  property  in  the  Ottoman  Empire,  and  on  the  28th  of  July,  1868,  a  protocol  was  signed 
between  the  British  and  Turkish  Governments  relative  to  the  admission  of  British  subjects 
to  the  right  of  holding  real  property  in  Turkey. 


27  6 


COUNCIL  OF  JUSTICE. 


“The  taxes  are  to  be  levied  under  the  same  denomination  from  all  the 
subjects  of  my  empire,  without  distinction  of  class  or  religion.  The  most 
prompt  and  energetic  means  for  remedying  the  abuses  in  collecting  the 
taxes,  and  especially  the  tithes,  shall  be  considered. 

“The  system  of  direct  collections  shall  gradually, and  as  soon  as  possible, 
be  substituted  for  the  plan  of  farming,  in  all  the  branches  of  the  revenues  of 
state.  As  long  as  the  present  system  remains  in  force,  all  agents  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment  and  all  members  of  the  medjlis  shall  be  forbidden,  under  the 
severest  penalties,  to  become  lessees  of  any  farming  contracts  which  are  an¬ 
nounced  for  public  competition,  or  to  have  any  beneficial  interest  in  carry¬ 
ing  them  out.  The  local  taxes  shall,  as  far  as  possible,  be  so  imposed  as 
not  to  affect  the  sources  of  production  or  to  hinder  the  progress  of  in¬ 
ternal  commerce. 

“Works  of  public  utility  shall  receive  a  suitable  endowment,  part  of 
which  shall  be  raised  from  private  and  special  taxes  levied  in  the  prov- 
vinces,  which  shall  have  the  benefit  of  the  advantages  arising  from  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  ways  of  communication  by  land  and  sea. 

“A  special  law  having  been  already  passed,  which  declares  that  the  budget 
of  the  revenues  and  the  expenditure  of  the  state  shall  be  drawn  up  and 
made  known  every  year,  the  said  law  shall  be  most  scrupulously  observed. 
Proceedings  shall  be  taken  for  revising  the  emoluments  attached  to  each 
office. 

“The  heads  of  each  community  and  a  delegate,  designated  by  my  Sub¬ 
lime  Porte,  shall  be  summoned  to  take  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  su¬ 
preme  council  of  justice  on  all  occasions  which  might  interest  the  generality 
of  the  subjects  of  my  empire.  They  shall  be  summoned  specially  for  this 
purpose  by  my  Grand  Vizier.  The  delegates  shall  hold  office  for  one  year ; 
they  shall  be  sworn  on  entering  upon  their  duties.  All  the  members  of  the 
council,  at  the  ordinary  and  extraordinary  meetings,  shall  freely  give  their 
opinions  and  their  votes,  and  no  one  shall  ever  annoy  them  on  this  account. 

“The  laws  against  corruption,  extortion  or  malversation  shall  apply,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  legal  forms,  to  all  the  subjects  of  my  empire,  whatever  may 
be  their  class  and  the  nature  of  their  duties. 

“  Steps  shall  be  taken  for  the  formation  of  banks  and  other  similar  insti¬ 
tutions,  so  as  to  effect  a  reform  in  the  monetary  and  financial  system,  as 
well  as  to  create  funds  to  be  employed  in  augmenting  the  sources  of  the 
material  wealth  of  my  empire.  Steps  shall  also  be  taken  for  the  formation 


IMPROVED  CONDITIONS.  2*]J 

of  roads  and  canals  to  increase  the  facilities  of  communication  and  in¬ 
crease  the  sources  of  the  wealth  of  the  country. 

“  Everything  that  can  impede  commerce  or  agriculture  shall  be  abol¬ 
ished.  To  accomplish  these  objects,  means  shall  be  sought  to  profit  by 
the  science,  the  art,  and  the  funds  of  Europe,  and  thus  gradually  to  execute 
them. 

“Such  being  my  wishes  and  my  commands,  you,  who  are  my  Grand 
Vizier,  will,  according  to  custom,  cause  this  imperial  firman  to  be  published 
in  my  capital  and  in  all  parts  of  my  empire ;  and  you  will  watch  attentively 
and  take  all  the  necessary  measures  that  all  the  orders  which  it  contains  be 
henceforth  carried  out  with  the  most  rigorous  punctuality. 

“io  Dzemaziul,  1272  (February  18,  1856). ”* 

During  the  remainder  of  the  reign  of  Abd-ul-Medjid,  and 
that  of  Abd-ul-Aziz  (1861-1 876),  the  condition  of  the  Christians 
throughout  the  empire  generally  improved.  Outbreaks 
were  not  wanting.  There  was  the  massacre  of  Maronites  by 
the  Druzes  in  i860,  and  the  intrigues  of  Russia  resulted  in 
the  Bulgarian  atrocities,  which,  in  turn,  resulted  in  the  Russo- 
Turkish  war  and  Bulgarian  independence.  For  the  most 
part,  however,  the  situation  was  far  better  than  it  had  been  at 
any  time.  This,  not  merely  in  general  prosperity,  but  in  the  re¬ 
lation  between  Christians  and  Moslems.  Terms  of  reproach 
were  heard  less.  There  was  greater  freedom  of  worship  and 
education,  and  it  began  to  be  possible  for  a  Christian  to  secure 
some  justice  in  the  Turkish  courts.  Christians  became  numer¬ 
ous  in  administrative  offices,  and  in  the  councils  in  the  interior 
provinces.  Taxation,  while  heavy,  was  less  unevenly  divided, 
and  it  became  not  unusual  for  a  Christian  to  acquire  property 
without  attracting  the  notice  of  the  Turkish  authorities,  and 
losing  it  all  through  the  machinations  of  some  jealous  official. 
Appeals,  also,  were  more  frequently  made  to  the  higher  courts, 

This  document,  as  also  the  Hatti  Sherif,  has  been  taken  from  Van  Dyck’s  report  on  the 
Capitulations  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  published  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  1881. 


PROSPERITY  AND  INTRIGUES. 


278 

and  local  magnates  learned  that  there  was  a  power  higher 
than  their  own  which  they  must  respect.  In  this,  the  presence 
of  the  American  Missionaries  assisted  greatly.  While  not 
interfering  in  the  administration  of  the  government,  they 
frequently  protested  to  the  local  governors  against  manifest 
injustice  and  assisted  in  the  forwarding  of  complaints  to  Con¬ 
stantinople.  The  Patriarchs  found  cordial  support  at  the 
hands  of  the  foreign  ambassadors,  and  not  infrequently  Turks 
looked  on  with  envy,  saying  to  the  Armenians,  “When  an 
official  treats  you  unjustly,  you  have  some  redress.  You  can 
send  to  your  bishop  and  he  to  the  Patriarch,  and  he  can  get 
the  great  Ambassador  from  Europe  to  support  his  plea.  The 
result  is,  you  get  justice.  We  have  nobody  to  go  to.  The 
official  is  one  of  us.  He  will  forward  no  petitions,  and  we 
must  simply  accept  his  decision,  whatever  it  may  be.” 

This  amelioration  of  their  condition  was  assisted  not  a  little 
by  the  political  necessities  of  the  times,  and  the  fact  that 
Abd-ul-Aziz  was  so  absorbed  with  his  plans  for  aggrandize¬ 
ment  that  he  thought  chiefly  of  using  every  means  that  came 
to  his  hand.  He  found  the  Christians  very  useful,  and  ad¬ 
vanced  them  so  that  they  became  a  great  power  in  the  land. 
Governors  hesitated  before  they  incurred  their  hostility,  and 
they  were  able  to  do  much  for  their  fellow-subjects.  This 
sort  of  prosperity,  however,  had  its  dangers.  Intrigue  in¬ 
creased  on  every  hand,  and  the  coming  in  contact  with  the 
new  ideas  of  the  West  operated  in  some  respects  quite  un¬ 
favorably  (see  chapter  on  the  Armenians). 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  there  was  no  oppres¬ 
sion.  There  was,  and  the  suffering  in  many  places  was 
intense.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for  even  the  most 
enlightened  government  to  thoroughly  carry  out  such  radical 


IMPROVED  GENERAL  SITUATION. 


279 


reforms  as  those  of  the  Hatti  Humayoun  without  great  diffi¬ 
culty,  and  in  Turkey  this  was  greatly  increased  by  the  fact 
that  they  were  bitterly  opposed  by  the  entire  Moslem  popula¬ 
tion.  Turkish  pashas,  sheiks,  beys,  and  aghas  were  not  slow 
to  see  that  their  power  was  on  the  wane,  and  Turkish  peasants 
realized  that  the  Christians  were  outstripping  them  in  many 
of  the  elements  of  prosperity.  Officials  thus  used  their  power 
when  they  could,  and  Turkish  citizens  made  their  hostility 
manifest  in  the  most  unpleasant  ways.  The  incursions  of 
Kurds,  Circassians,  Lozes,  and  others  were  also  frequent,  and 
the  suffering  was  intense  in  many  places.  Peace  and  pros¬ 
perity  had  by  no  means  come.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  the  situa¬ 
tion  of  the  Christians  was  far  better  when  Abd-ul-Hamid  II 
came  to  the  throne  in  1876,  than  it  had  been  at  any  time  since 
the  establishment  of  the  Ottoman  dynasty. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Turkish  Government. 

True  Moslem  State  Theocratic — Dual  Form  of  the  Present  Government — The  Sublime 
Porte — Army  and  Navy — Internal  Administration — Financial  Management — General 
Corruption — Administration  of  Justice — Treatment  of  Christians — The  Ulema — The 
Palace  Party — The  Sultan. 

THERE  can  be  no  proper  understanding  of  the  situation 
in  Turkey  without  a  knowledge  of  the  peculiar  char¬ 
acter  of  the  Turkish  Government.  That  government  is 
in  reality  dual  in  form.  So  far  as  the  outside  world  is  concerned 
it  is  on  the  basis  of  an  absolute  monarchy  or  despotism.  The 
Sultan  is  the  autocrat  of  his  empire,  but  has  under  him  a 
complete  organization  of  departments  conducted  by  the  ap¬ 
propriate  chiefs  who  form  his  cabinet.  To  the  Moslem, 
however,  the  same  government  bears  another  aspect,  and 
side  by  side  with  this  organization  that  is  apparent  to  the 
Western  eye  there  is  another,  which  to  the  true  Turk  takes 
precedence  of  it.  The  original  Moslem  State  was  distinctly 
theocratic  in  its  nature,  and  its  entire  organization  was  based 
upon  the  idea  that  religion  was  the  controlling  element  in  the 
conduct  of  all  affairs,  national,  municipal  and  family.  Both 
forms,  however,  centre  in  the  Sultan  himself,  and  under  the 

(280) 


THE  SUBLIME  PORTE. 


%8l 

peculiar  conditions  of  his  life  there  has  grown  up  a  third 
element,  often  distinct  from  and  even  antagonistic  to  the 
others  the  palace  element.  Each  one  of  these  three  play 
an  important  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  empire. 

The  Turkish  Government  as  it  stands  before  the  world  at 
large  is  organized  like  any  other  government.  The  Sultan  is 
the  supreme  head;  under  him  is  the  Council  of  Ministers, 
called  Medjliss-i-Hass.  This  consists  of  the  following  mem¬ 
bers :  the  Grand  Vizier,  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  and  the  Ministers 
of  the  Interior,  of  Foreign  Affairs,  of  War,  of  Finance,  of 
Marine,  of  Commerce,  of  Public  Instruction  and  of  Evkaf, 
together  with  the  President  of  the  Council  of  State  and  the 
Grand  Master  of  Artillery.  These  different  departments 
constitute  what  is  known  as  the  Sublime  Porte,  and  are 
carried  on  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  corresponding  de¬ 
partments  in  this  country  or  in  any  European  country,  and 
most  of  them  require  no  special  description.  The  Grand 
Vizier,  as  president  of  the  Council,  holds  much  the  same 
power  as  the  Premier  in  England.  Theoretically  he  has  the 
power  to  decide  matters  in  any  department  on  his  own  judg¬ 
ment,  and  his  endorsement  of  an  undertaking  is  almost  sure 
to  insure  its  success  whether  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet  approve 
it  or  not.  Of  the  other  members  there  are  only  three  whose 
office  needs  any  special  description.  These  are  the  Sheik-ul- 

Islam,  the  Minister  of  Evkaf  and  the  Minister  of  Public  In¬ 
struction. 

The  Sheik-ul-Islam  is  popularly  supposed  to  be  the  head 
of  the  Moslem  religion.  This,  however,  is  not  true.  He  is 
merely  the  representative  in  this  Council  of  the  Moslem  Hie¬ 
rarchy.  Theoretically  he  is  nominated  by  the  Sultan  with 
the  approval  of  the  Ulemas,  or  general  body  of  Moslem 


PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 


282 

Doctors  of  Law.  Practically  he  is  the  choice,  as  are  the 
other  members  of  the  Council,  of  the  Grand  Vizier,  who  has 
the  privilege  usually  of  making  up  his  own  Cabinet,  as  has 
the  English  Premier.  His  membership  in  the  Council  is  in 
most  cases  honorary  rather  than  important.  Only  under  rare 
instances  does  he  come  into  position  to  exercise  any  positive 
influence  upon  affairs.  On  the  occasion  of  the  death  of 
Sultan  Abdul  Aziz,  the  conspirators  applied  to  the  Ulema, 
who  made  a  statement  that  the  Sultan  was  not  fit  to  govern, 
and  as  their  mouthpiece  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  issued  a  decree 
of  fetva ,  which  made  his  deposition  lawful.  So  also  when  it 
became  necessary  politically  to  replace  Murad  by  his  brother 
Abdul  Hamid,  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  was  called  upon,  and,  agree¬ 
ably  to  the  influences  brought  to  bear,  issued  the  order. 
There  have  been  similar  instances  at  other  times,  but  since  the 
reorganization  of  the  empire  by  Sultan  Mahmud  II  the  office 
has  been  as  a  rule  honorary  rather  than  practical. 

The  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  is  a  Cabinet  Minister  by 
virtue  of  the  peculiar  relations  existing  between  the  govern¬ 
ment  and  the  Mosque  schools,  and  the  necessity,  under  a 
despotic  government,  of  watching  that  nothing  shall  be  taught 
in  one  school  that  shall  antagonize  what  is  taught  in  another^ 
or  be  in  the  slightest  degree  derogatory  to  the  general 
government.  The  important  duty  in  regard  to  the  schools 
connected  with  the  Mosques,  has  to  do  not  so  much  with  the 
education  itself  as  with  the  control  of  that  very  large  portion 
of  the  revenues  of  the  country  which  is  applied  to  their  sup¬ 
port.  Another  department  under  the  same  head  is  that  of 
the  censorship.  How  important  a  department  this  is  will  be 
manifest  later  on,  illustrations  of  it  being  given  in  the  chapter 
on  the  condition  of  the  empire  in  1894.  The  countries 


MOSQUES. 


283 

where  this  department  occupies  a  somewhat  parallel  position 
Russia,  Austria  and  Spain,  where  the  censorship  is  very 
rigid  and  the  oversight  by  the  government  of  all  departments 
of  instruction  is  very  complete. 

The  Minister  of  Evkaf  has  duties  entirely  unlike  those  of 
any  cabinet  minister  in  European  countries.  They  arise 
from  the  inevitable  mingling  of  the  two  characteristics  of  the 
Turkish  Government.  The  term  vakouf  is  applied  to  property 
which  in  one  form  or  another  is  directed  to  religious  uses  and 
generally  indicates  that  belonging  to  the  Mosques.  It  is 
acquired  in  two  ways ;  the  property  of  any  man  who  dies 
intestate  reverts  under  Turkish  law  not  to  the  State  itself,  but 
to  the  nearest  Mosque.  In  addition  to  this,  if  any  man  de¬ 
sires  to  secure  special  divine  favor,  such  as  is  awarded  par¬ 
ticularly  to  the  charitable,  according  to  Moslem  teaching,  he 
rnay  transfer  during  his  lifetime  or  deed  after  his  death  any 
portion  of  his  property  to  any  particular  Mosque.  He,  how¬ 
ever,  has  the  privilege  of  securing  an  annuity  based  upon  this 
property  to  some  member  of  his  own  family  or  some  one 
whom  he  desires  especially  to  favor.  The  result  is  that  a 
very  large  amount,  estimated  at  from  one-third  to  one-half, 
of  the  real  estate  in  the  Turkish  Empire  is  owned  by  the 
Mosques  in  this  way ;  the  income,  however,  not  by  any 
means  being  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  Mosques  them, 
selves.  It  is  evident  that  the  direction  of  this  involves  a  very 
extended  organization,  and  the  elevation  of  it  into  a  depart¬ 
ment  whose  head  shall  be  in  the  Cabinet  was  perfectly  natural. 
It  will  be  easily  seen  that  the  style  of  questions  arising  in 
such  a  case  is  very  varied.  Where  a  person  wishes  to  buy 
real  estate  the  first  thing  he  has  to  do  is  to  find  out  whether 

it,  or  any  portion  of  it,  is  vakouf.  If  so,  he  must,  in  making  his 
17 


284 


MILITARY  DEPARTMENTS. 


contract,  bind  himself  to  pay  the  regular  tax  directly  to  the 
Mosque  or  to  the  holder  of  the  annuity.  This  can  be  done 
without  great  difficulty.  But  in  case  he  should  die  and  the 
property  be  divided  according  to  law  among  his  heirs,  and  one 
of  those  heirs  should  die,  then  the  portion  of  that  heir  goes  to 
the  Mosque.  Various  methods  have  been  devised  to  over¬ 
come  such  difficulties.  Two  are  provided  for  by  Turkish  law: 
(1)  A  lump  sum  may  be  paid  to  the  Mosque,  securing  com¬ 
plete  quittal  of  all  claims ;  (2)  The  purchaser  may  find  some 
unencumbered  property,  and,  by  payment  to  its  owners  of  a 
consideration,  secure  its  acceptance  by  the  Mosque  in  lieu  of 
the  property  that  he  wishes. 

The  military  departments  of  the  government  are  organized 
and  officered  very  much  as  in  other  governments.  The  army 
is  divided  into  the  Nizam,  or  regular  army  ;  the  Redif,  or 
reserves,  and  the  Mustahfiz,  or  veterans.  Military  service  is 
compulsory  on  all  able-bodied  Mohammedans  for  six  years  in 
the  regular  army,  eight  years  in  the  reserve,  and  six  in  the 
veteran  service.  There  are,  however,  the  following  excep¬ 
tions:  (1)  All  Turks  residing  in  Constantinople  and  its  sub¬ 
urbs  are  released;  (2)  Those  who  are  infirm,  are  the  sole  sup¬ 
port  of  their  families,  or  for  any  special  reason  may  claim 
exception,  are  required  to  go  through  from  six  to  nine  months’ 
drill  in  the  regular  battalion  in  the  first  year  of  their  service, 
and  thirty  days’  drill  at  their  homes  in  every  subsequent  year, 
and  are  also  liable  on  emergency  to  be  called  to  join  the 
regular  army.  Non-Moslems  are  prohibited  from  entering 
the  military  service,  but  instead  pay  an  exemption  tax,  which 
is  levied  alike  on  males  of  all  ages.  The  effect  of  this  has 
been  to  create  a  heavy  strain  upon  the  Moslem  population 
throughout  the  empire,  while  the  Christians  have  found  it  to 


EFFECTIVE  FORCE. 


285 


their  advantage  to  pay  the  tax  rather  than  to  endure  the  con¬ 
scription.  In  the  apportionment  of  the  troops  it  has  been  the 
rule  never  to  allow  soldiers  to  serve  in  the  districts  near  their 
homes.  Thus  the  troops  employed  in  the  garrisons  in  the 
north  are  levied  from  among  the  Moslems  of  Syria  and  Meso¬ 
potamia,  while  those  accustomed  to  the  snows  and  high  alti¬ 
tudes  of  Asia  Minor  are  sent  into  the  heated  plains  of  the 
south.  Whatever  advantage  might  result  from  this  separation 
from  their  homes  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  strain 
upon  the  physical  constitution.  The  total  effective  force  of 
the  regular  Turkish  army  in  times  of  peace  is  estimated  at 
about  150,000  men  and  9,800  officers,  divided  into  264  bat¬ 
talions  of  infantry,  189  squadrons  of  cavalry,  104  batteries  of 
field  artillery,  36  batteries  of  mountain  and  29  battalions  of 
garrison  artillery,  4  battalions  of  infantry  train,  14  battalions  of 
artificers,  3  battalions  of  fire  brigade,  22  companies  of  engi¬ 
neers,  2  sanitary  companies  and  1  telegraph  company.  The 
total  force  that  it  is  estimated  might  be  put  into  the  field 
under  the  present  system  is  said  to  be  about  800,000  men. 
The  rank  and  file  is  of  excellent  material.  There  are  no 
better  soldiers  in  the  world  than  the  Turks.  They  are 
faithful,  obedient,  fearless,  and  accustomed  to  the  utmost  fru¬ 
gality  of  life.  The  same,  however,  cannot  be  said  of  the 
officers.  There  are  brave,  efficient  men  among  them  ;  but 
for  the  most  part  they  show  the  same  defects  as  other  Turks 
in  official  position,  and  their  weakness  affects  very  seriously 
the  whole  army. 

The  Turkish  navy  is  the  laughing  stock  of  all  who  know 
anything  about  it.  In  numbers  it  is  strong,  and  probably,  if 
it  were  kept  in  repair  and  sufficiently  well  manned,  it  might 
be  available  for  warfare.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  its  principal  use 


286 


ABDUL  AZIZ’  EXTRAVAGANCE. 


for  the  last  few  years  has  been  to  make  annual  trips  from  the 
inner  harbor  to  the  Bosporus  and  back  again,  in  which  trips 
it  has  to  pass  the  two  bridges  that  span  the  Golden  Horn,  and 
if  it  gets  through  without  really  damaging  the  bridges,  it  is 
matter  of  public  comment  and  congratulation  in  the  press. 
The  present  navy  owes  its  origin  to  the  ambition  and  extrava-  . 
gance  of  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz,  who,  having  found  that  money  was 
to  be  had  in  Europe  for  the  asking,  paid  little  attention  to  the 
conditions  of  the  payment  of  interest,  and  borrowed  right  and 
left  for  the  purpose  of  building  palaces,  public  works  of  various 
kinds,  and  a  navy.  He  had,  however,  to  import  engineers  and 
officers  ;  for  seamen  he  relied  in  some  degree  upon  Dalma¬ 
tians,  but  they  could  not  supply  the  demand,  and  he  fell  back 
upon  the  Turks.  The  Turks  are  as  poor  sailors  as  most  Ori¬ 
entals,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  fleet  has  been  and  is  worth 
next  to  nothing  for  offensive  or  even  for  defensive  purposes. 
The  general  collapse  of  the  finances  of  the  empire  has  made 
it  difficult  to  pay  the  engineers ;  the  ships  have  not  been  well 
cared  for,  and  are  practically  of  no  account  in  estimating  the 
strength  of  the  nation.  There  are  15  armor-clad  ships  of  con¬ 
siderable  power,  and  42  others,  some  of  them  of  very  little 
value.  Its  nominal  strength  is  6  vice-admirals,  1 1  rear  admi¬ 
rals,  208  captains,  704  under  officers,  30,000  sailors,  and  9,460 
marines. 

The  department  which  at  present  attracts  most  attention  is 
that  of  the  Interior.  For  administrative  purposes  the  empire 
is  divided  into  vilayets  (provinces),  which  are  subdivided  into 
sanjaks  or  livas  (governments  or  arrondissements),  these  again 
into  kazas  (counties),  and  these  into  nahies  (communes). 
The  governors  of  these  divisions  are  styled  Valis,  or  Walis, 
Mutessarifs,  Kaimakams  and  Mudirs.  The  first  two  officers, 


ROBER  T  COLLEGE,  situated  on  the  heights  of  Rumeli  Hissar,  about  six  miles  up  the  Bosporus  from  the  citv 
of  Constantinople.  Just  below  is  the  place  where  Darius  crossed  the  Bosporus  and  where  Mohammed  11.  built  his 
famous  castles. 


THE  BOYS’  HIGH  SCHOOL  IN  SMYRNA.  It  is  under  the  care  of  the  American  missionaries  The  students 
are  of  all  nationalities,  Armenian,  Greek,  English,  and  other  Europeans.  The  house  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  style 
of  building.  There  are  no  chimneys,  their  place  being  taken  bv  stovepipes,  as  seen  in  the  picture. 


THE  MEDJLISS. 


289 

who  have  the  title  of  Pasha,  and  the  third,  are  appointed  by 
the  Council  of  State  at  Constantinople,  the  fourth  by  the  Valis. 
The  last  is  generally  some  local  magistrate  ;  the  others  are 
usually  from  places  at  some  distance  from  where  they  hold 
office.  Their  duties  are  both  judicial  and  executive,  and  each 
is  practically  autocrat  within  his  own  jurisdiction,  subject  only 
to  his  immediate  superior.  There  is  a  council  connected  with 
each  of  these  offices,  composed  of  prominent  members  of  the 
different  communities,  Moslem  and  Christian,  whose  business 
it  is  to  advise  the  governor  in  the  many  details  of  his  office. 
The  different  communities  have  a  loose  organization  called  the 
medjliss,  which  meets  on  occasion  to  discuss  local  matters, 
and  which  is  represented  in  a  sort  of  council  associated  with 
the  governor.  The  general  character  of  the  provincial  gov¬ 
ernment  is  largely  dependent  upon  the  Governor-General,  or 
Vali.  If  he  is  a  man  who  seeks  to  deal  justly  by  the 
people,  and  who  has  a  pretty  firm  hand,  there  is  order  and 
quiet,  for  the  people  are  usually  peaceable.  If  he  is  an  ava¬ 
ricious  man,  that  characteristic,  always  existent  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  pervades  the  whole  administration,  and  the 
shrewdest  politicians  come  out  best.  If  he  is  easy-going, 
caring  more  for  his  comfort,  or  kef  his  subordinates  do  much 
as  they  please,  and  that  pleasure  is,  as  a  rule,  to  fleece  the 
people  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  Occasionally,  though  it 
must  be  said  rarely,  the  governor  is  a  man  of  marked  bru¬ 
tality,  and  then  woe  betide  any  in  city  or  country  who  for  any 
reason  incur  his  hostility.  When  it  is  remembered  that  ap¬ 
pointments  to  provincial  offices  are  seldom  made  with  any 
reference  to  the  welfare  of  the  province,  but  usually  as  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  favor  to  some  one  who  desires  to  recover  wasted  for¬ 
tune,  or  whom  revenge  seeks  to  remove  from  Constantinople, 


290 


FINANCE. 


it  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  chances  are  all  in  favor  of  poor 
rather  than  good  government.  Taking  into  account  also  the 
fact  of  the  absolute  autocracy  of  the  governor,  and  the  utter 
lack  of  supervision,  the  wonder  is  not  that  the  provinces  are 
governed  so  badly,  but  that  they  are  not  governed  worse. 

The  financial  management  of  the  government  is  probably 
the  worst  in  existence.  Properly  speaking,  Turkey  has  no 
finance.  There  are  revenues,  but  no  regular  way  of  collect¬ 
ing  them.  There  are  salaries,  but  no  regular  way  of  paying 
them.  The  result  is  chaos.  From  the  Sultan  down  to  the 
lowest  grade  in  the  public  service  it  is  a  scramble  for  money, 
each  one  getting  all  he  can  and  giving  up  as  little  as  possible. 
Many  of  the  revenues  are  mortgaged  to  pay  the  loans  con¬ 
tracted,  chiefly  during  the  extravagant  reign  of  Abdul  Aziz, 
and  are  under  the  absolute  control  of  a  commission  of 
foreigners.  The  tithes  are  farmed  out  to  the  highest  bidders, 

o  o  7 

who  have  the  whole  power  of  the  government  at  their  disposal 
to  enable  them  to  collect  all  they  can,  on  the  general  principle 
of  a  division  of  any  profits  between  the  collectors  and  the 
authorities.  Tax  receipts  are  repeatedly  refused,  so  that  when 
subsequent  collectors  come  they  can  take  advantage  of  their 
absence  to  collect  back  taxes  to  the  very  limit  of  possibility. 
Enumerators  for  personal  taxes  make  their  lists  small  so  as 
to  lessen  the  amount  for  which  they  are  held  responsible, 
while  in  view  of  this  they  levy  on  the  community  as  high  as 
the  community  will  give.  Importers  try  to  secure  undervalu¬ 
ation  of  their  goods,  land-owners  undervaluation  of  their  land, 
peasants  hide  their  grain,  and  men  will  often  bear  imprison¬ 
ment,  and  even  the  severest  beating,  rather  than  reveal  their 
deposits. 

In  case  of  special  need  at  Constantinople,  requisition  is 


BRIBERY  AND  EXTORTION.  ‘  2pt 

made  upon  some  province  for  a  certain  sum.  Forthwith  all 
the  efforts  of  every  member  of  the  administration  of  that 
province  are  directed  to  two  things:  (i)  to  lessen  if  possible 
the  amount  demanded  ;  (2)  to  secure  for  themselves  a  portion 
of  the  money  that  must  be  collected.  Spies  and  informers 
abound  on  every  hand,  and  exceptional  harvests,  fortunate 
investments,  fat  legacies,  are  made  the  pretexts  of  all  sorts  of 
pressure.  Salaries  are  always  in  arrears  for  months,  and 
sometimes  years.  The  announcement  that  the  treasury  is  to 
pay  a  month’s  salary  to  the  clerks  of  the  departments,  or  to 
the  army  and  navy,  is  a  matter  of  public  comment  and  adver¬ 
tisements  in  the  newspapers.  But  people  must  live.  Hence 
bribery  and  extortion  rule  everywhere.  Judges,  officials  of 
every  grade,  even  heads  of  departments,  rely  for  their  sup¬ 
port,  not  upon  the  government  itself,  but  upon  what  influence 
they  can  exert  on  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  others,  and  upon 
appropriating  at  least  a  little  of  what  passes  through  their 
hands. 

The  general  conduct  of  the  various  departments  is  thus 
inevitably  the  poorest.  There  is  not  the  faintest  pretense  of 
civil  service.  All  appointments  go  by  favor,  and,  with  rare 
exceptions,  the  amount  of  work  accomplished  is  lamentably, 
even  ludicrously,  small.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  get 
anything  done  in  any  of  the  departments  except  by  one  of 
two  means:  constant  pressure  combined  with  the  endorse¬ 
ment  of  a  superior  official,  or  the  most  unblushing  bribery. 
Fees  abound  on  every  hand,  and  are  given  openly  without 
any  apparent  idea  that  there  is  anything  derogatory  to  the 
officials  in  taking  them.  In  the  Custom  House  there  is  a  reg- 
ular  scale  of  fees  ;  so  much  to  the  porter  who  takes  things  out 
of  the  lighter ;  so  much  to  the  inspector ;  so  much  to  the 


292 


CONCESSIONS. 


clerk,  and  so  on  from  the  bottom  up.  The  inevitable  result 
is  that  there  is  false  swearing  on  every  hand,  and  the  dues 
supposed  to  be  received  seldom  reach  intact  the  treasuries  of 
the  government.  When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  securing 
concessions,  the  matter  is  still  worse.  Some  ten  years  ago  a 
small  book,  called  “  Minor  Memoirs  of  Turkey,”  was  pub¬ 
lished,  full  of  curious  details.  Among  them  was  a  list  of 
bribes  received  by  dignitaries  of  the  Ottoman  Government ; 
they  included  75,000  Turkish  pounds  paid  by  a  railway  com¬ 
pany  to  two  secretaries,  a  chamberlain  at  the  palace,  a  minis¬ 
ter  in  the  cabinet,  etc.  A  tobacco  monopoly  company  paid 
1 2,000  pounds  to  various  officials ;  the  directors  of  a  bank  in 
Galata  remitted  125,000  pounds  as  an  agent  for  some  enter¬ 
prise.  The  court  chamberlain  received  60,000  pounds  from 

Baron - ,  through  a  certain  effendi,  for  a  concession. 

Whether  these  particular  instances  are  absolutely  correct  or 
not,  makes  very  little  difference.  It  is  perfectly  notorious, 
and  has  been  for  years,  that  every  concession  of  any  kind 
for  public  works  has  to  pass  the  gauntlet  of  bribes  from  the 
lowest  official  at  the  Sublime  Porte  to  the  palace  itself.  It  is 
true  that  some  enterprises  are  carried  through  without  bribes, 
but  they  owe  their  success  to  personal  favor.  One  who  was 
well  posted  in  Turkish  Government  dealings  has  said,  that 
“  strong  as  Baksheesh  Pasha  is,  Khatir  Pasha  is  still  stronger.” 
(Khatir  is  what  is  done  out  of  courtesy.  If  a  Turk  is  asked 
to  do  a  thing  as  a  personal  favor,  it  lays  a  heavier  obligation 
upon  him  than  even  the  presentation  of  a  bribe,  if  the  per¬ 
sonal  relations  are  at  all  intimate.)  To  give  in  anything  like 
full  detail  a  description  of  the  methods  adopted  in  the  differ¬ 
ent  departments  of  the  Turkish  Government,  would  require 
several  chapters  of  itself,  and  would  reveal  an  amount  of 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE. 


293 


trickery,  deception  and  fraud  which  would  be  almost  incredible. 
In  the  administration  of  justice  there  is  a  system  of  laws 
and  of  courts  based  upon  the  Napoleon  code.  There  is  a 
certain  amount  of  regular  law  practiced.  Here,  however, 
the  Moslem  organization  comes  into  such  close  relation  with 
what  we  may  call  the  European  organization,  that  special 
reference  is  reserved  for  a  later  paragraph.  The  policing  of 
the  country  is  in  the  hands  of  the  military,  although  the  police 
force  is  a  different  organization  from  that  of  the  regular  army. 

The  personnel  of  the  different  departments  is  almost  en¬ 
tirely  Moslem,  except  where  Turks  are  simply  incapable  of 
performing  the  duties.  To  Mahmud  II  must  be  given  the 
credit  of  recognizing  the  superior  ability  of  his  Christian 
subjects,  and  of  employing  them  in  the  various  departments 
of  the  government.  His  practice  was  enlarged  upon  by  Sul¬ 
tans  Abdul  Medjid  and  Abdul  Aziz.  When  the  present  Sultan 
came  to  the  throne,  Armenians  and  Greeks  were  quite  numer¬ 
ous  as  clerks  in  the  various  departments.  Some  rose  to  high 
position  and  were  greatly  honored.  During  the  present 
reign,  however,  the  number  of  these  has  been  steadily  dimin¬ 
ishing,  and  their  places  have  been  taken  by  Turks.  The 
Turk,  not  being  well  adapted  to  bureaucratic  work,  the  gen¬ 
eral  conduct  of  the  empire  has  suffered  proportionately.  It 
is  to  be  noted  that  the  diplomatic  service  of  the  Turkish  Em¬ 
pire  is  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  the  Greeks.  There  are  few,  if 
any,  Armenians.  In  the  local  administrative  service  the 
Armenians  outnumber  the  Greeks.  The  presence  of  these 
men  in  the  service  is  referred  to  as  indicative  of  the  kindly 
feeling  of  the  government  for  the  Christian  subjects.  This 
does  not  by  any  means  follow.  Their  presence  is  due,  not  to 
any  favor  on  the  part  of  the  Sultan  or  his  ministers,  but  to 


MOSLEM  ORGANIZATION. 


294 

the  fact  that  they  are  absolutely  essential  for  the  efficient  con¬ 
duct  of  the  government. 

Turning  now  to  the  Moslem  organization,  we  find  that 
originally  it  was  not  dissimilar  in  form  to  the  other.  It  is 
based,  however,  upon  an  entirely  different  idea.  In  it  the 
Sultan  is  not  an  executive,  but  is  the  caliph  ;  primarily  the  de¬ 
fender  of  the  faith,  and  only  incidentally  the  governor  of  the 
people.  He  has  associated  with  him  the  different  prefects, 
practically  ministers,  who  are  his  subordinates,  and  yet  auto¬ 
crats  each  in  his  own  department  under  his  general  authority. 
So  far  as  relations  to  foreign  governments  are  concerned,  there 
is  not  so  much  of  difference.  In  the  conduct  of  home  affairs 
the  difference  is  very  marked,  especially  in  the  Department 
of  Justice.  There  the  whole  principle  of  judgment  is  based 
upon  the  Moslem  law,  including  both  the  Koran  and  the  tra¬ 
ditions.  Those  traditions  recognize  as  the  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciple  of  law  the  faith  and  declaration  of  belief  in  the  unity  of 
God.  Every  person  who  denies  that  is  an  idolater,  and  un¬ 
worthy  of  position  equal  to  that  of  the  true  Moslem.  Thus 
no  Christian  testimony  is  available  in  a  court  of  law,  and  in 
any  difference  between  himself  and  a  Moslem,  his  interest  is 
entirely  a  secondary  matter.  The  fact  that  the  traditions 
were  very  inchoate  and  uncertain  left  an  enormous  amount  of 
room  for  all  kinds  of  legal  quibbles.  So  long  as  the  conduct 
of  the  courts  was  on  this  basis  pure  and  simple,  the  absolute 
subordination  of  the  Christians  was  very  plain.  They  had  no 
rights  of  any  kind,  and  when,  by  virtue  of  a  sort  of  rude  jus¬ 
tice,  they  occasionally  were  treated  honorably,  it  was  so  much 
clear  gain.  When,  however,  the  new  organization  was 
brought  side  by  side  with  the  old,  and  the  Napoleon  code  was 
made  of  equal  importance  with  the  law  of  the  Cheri,  then 


AN  ILLUSTRATION. 


295 


there  was  a  constant  strife  as  to  which  should  get  the  better 
of  the  other,  and  between  the  two,  even  less  of  justice  was 
done  than  was  accomplished  by  the  former,  except  where  there 
were  influences  at  work  to  compel,  through  diplomatic  pres¬ 
sure,  the  granting  of  just  dues. 

An  illustration  will  give  an  idea  of  the  situation  better  than 
any  general  description.  A  foreigner  purchased  a  house  in 
an  interior  city  of  Turkey  which  had  been  offered  for  open 
sale  by  the  government,  which  had  sequestered  it  in  lieu  of 
taxes  due  from  its  owner,  an  Armenian.  A  thorough  govern- 

O  o 

ment  title  was  given,  and  possession  seemed  absolutely  sure. 
After  a  few  years  the  original  owner  died,  leaving  a  son  who 
had  not  yet  attained  his  majority.  Meanwhile  the  foreigner 
had  improved  the  property  so  much  that  it  had  doubled,  per¬ 
haps  tripled,  in  value.  The  son,  on  coming  of  age,  wanted  to 
get  back  his  ancestral  property,  and  applied  to  the  courts, 
claiming  that  the  original  seizure  by  the  government  was  un¬ 
just,  inasmuch  as  according  to  the  Moslem  law  the  rights  of  a 
minor  could  not  be  prejudiced  by  the  debts  of  the  father. 
The  thing  was  brought  before  the  local  cadi,  and  for  a  con¬ 
sideration  he  decided  in  favor  of  the  young  man,  and  the  for¬ 
eigner  was  immediately  ordered  to  leave.  There  had  been 
no  opportunity  for  his  case  to  be  presented  ;  simply  the  instruc¬ 
tions  came  from  the  courts  that  he  was  to  withdraw,  and  a 
platoon  of  soldiers  was  sent  to  enforce  the  order.  Being  a 
foreigner,  however,  he  had  the  right  to  refuse  entrance  to  the 
Turkish  troops,  and  the  matter  was  referred  to  Constanti¬ 
nople.  There  it  was  brought  before  the  regular  court,  and 
the  representatives  of  the  foreigner  said,  “  If  the  man  has  been 
defrauded,  why,  that  is  not  our  business.  The  government 
gave  us  a  good  title  and  took  our  money;  we  have  improved 


2^6  NON-MOSLEM  RIGHTS. 

the  property.  Now,  if  the  house  belongs  to  this  young  man, 
we  shall  bring  suit  against  the  government  for  the  money 
paid,  the  interest  paid  upon  that  money,  and  for  the  value  of 
the  improvements.”  They  utterly  refused  to  go  into  the 
question  of  the  original  sequestration.  This  put  the  govern¬ 
ment  in  a  difficult  position.  They  were  entirely  unwilling  to 
pay  the  money,  and  at  the  same  time  there  was  the  decision 
of  their  courts.  So  an  experienced  Moslem  jurist  was  called 
in,  and  he  found  that  by  some  other  precept  of  Moslem  law 
the  minor  had  lost  his  rights  through  not  having  presented 
his  claim  on  a  certain  date.  The  result  of  the  whole  thing 
was  that  the  property  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  for¬ 
eigner. 

Two  other  points  deserve  special  mention:  the  position  of 
Christians  in  the  courts,  and  the  general  relation  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment  as  a  protector.  According  to  the  true  Moslem  posi¬ 
tion,  as  stated  above,  no  infidel  (and  all  non-Moslems  are 
infidels)  has  any  standing  before  the  law.  His  word  is  of  no 
value,  and  his  testimony  is  worthless  in  comparison  with  that 
of  the  true  believer.  Under  the  general  reforms  inaugurated 
by  Sultan  Mahmud  and  carried  on  by  his  successor,  this  was 
changed  in  theory,  and,  by  the  Hatti  Humayoun,  the  Christian’s 
witness  was  accepted  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  Moslem.  Had 
the  new  code  been  the  only  one  in  force,  or  had  it  been  pos¬ 
sible  to  institute  courts  all  over  the  country,  it  would  have 
been  comparatively  easy  to  accomplish  the  change ;  but  the 
continuance  of  the  old  system  throughout  the  rural  districts, 
and  in  many  matters,  notably  real  estate  transfers  in  the 
cities,  occasioned  great  confusion,  which  worked  constantly  to 
delay  and  hamper  the  development  of  the  Christians.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  local  courts  throughout  the  empire,  in  mat- 


SUPPRESSING  CHRISTIANS. 


297 


ters  affecting  Moslems  and  Christians,  have  been  and  still  are 
conducted  on  the  general  basis  of  the  distinctively  Moslem 
law,  and  not  on  that  of  the  Napoleon  code. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  general  relations  of  the  Chris- 
tians  to  the  government  in  all  matters  regarding  his  protec¬ 
tion.  The  old  formula  was,  “  Islam,  tribute,  or  the  sword,” 
with  an  at  least  implied  pledge  of  protection  for  those  who 
accepted  the  tribute.  This  was  assured  to  the  Christians  by 
various  edicts,  notably  the  Hatti  Humayoun.  Yet  repeatedly 
it  has  been  manifest  that  the  old  Moslem  law  is  practically  in 
force,  according  to  which  the  moment  a  Christian  becomes  in 
any  way  an  element  of  uneasiness  in  the  community,  or  of  hos¬ 
tility  to  the  government,  he  may  be  suppressed.  A  doctor 
of  Moslem  law,  when  questioned  on  this  point,  frankly 
acknowledged  the  truth  of  the  statement,  and  went  on  to  say 
that  even  if  the  Christian  had  done  nothing,  he  might  be  in¬ 
cited  to  some  overt  act  which  would  give  a  pretext  for  sup¬ 
pressing  him.  This  fact  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  the  claim 
of  the  Turkish  Government  that  it  has  been  suppressing 
rebellion. 

This  distinctively  Moslem  idea  is  represented  in  the  actual 
government  of  Turkey  in  many  ways.  The  Sheik-ul-Islam 
is  its  formal  representative  in  the  cabinet,  but  it  has  absolute 
control  over  the  Board  of  Censors,  in  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  chapter  on  the  situa¬ 
tion  in  1894.  It  is  also  dominant  in  the  Department  of  Evkaf, 
and  practically,  though  not  theoretically  so,  in  the  Department 
of  Justice.  In  the  interior  provinces,  however,  with  rare^ 
exceptions,  it  rules  everywhere.  The  exponents  are  chiefly 
the  cadis  in  the  villages  and  towns,  who  look  with  marked 
disfavor  on  the  new-fangled  judges  who  have  usurped  their 


29  8 


THE  PALACE. 


privileges,  and  who  strive  by  every  means  to  arrest  their 
supremacy.  In  close  sympathy  with  them  are  the  Moslem 
priests,  especially  the  Ulema,  or  Doctors  of  Moslem  law,  the 
Softas,  or  students  of  law.  All  of  these  are  bitterly  opposed 
to  the  introduction  of  what  they* consider  the  infidel  code,  and 
do  not  scruple  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  make  it  of  no  effect. 
When  their  numbers  and  their  wide  distribution  are  taken 
into  account,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  while  the  parapher¬ 
nalia  of  the  Turkish  Government  is  to  all  appearances  in 
accord  with  modern  and  European  ideas,  there  is  an  influence 
not  so  visible,  but  very  powerful,  which  renders  it  of  ex¬ 
tremely  little  value  in  the  actual  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the 
empire. 

No  one  can  live  in  Constantinople  for  any  length  of  time, 
least  of  all  have  much  dealing  with  the  government,  without 
learning  the  meaning  of  the  term,  “The  Palace.”  Theoreti¬ 
cally  it  means  the  Sultan,  with  his  environments  of  police 
officials  and  attendants ;  practically  it  means  in  most  cases 
those  officials  themselves,  the  Sultan  being  considered  apart. 
Those  officials  include  the  officers  of  the  palace,  the  chamber- 
lain,  chief  eunuch  and  private  secretaries.  There  is  also  the 
introducer  of  ambassadors ;  and  aside  from  these  there  is 
generally  a  small  coterie  of  men  in  whom  the  Sultan  has  per¬ 
sonal  confidence.  They  hold  no  definite  official  position,  but 
live  near  the  palace  and  are  summoned  at  any  time  that  the 
Sultan  desires  their  counsel.  In  addition  to  these  there  is 
usually  a  small  company  of  ecclesiastics  or  of  Dervishes,  who 
have  varying  influence  with  the  Sultan.  The  power  of  these 
different  officials  varies  greatly  at  different  times,  and  also  as 
one  subject  or  another  comes  up.  Under  some  previous 
reigns,  when  the  personal  comfort  of  the  Sultan  was  pre- 


GENERAL  OSMAN  PASHA. 


299 


dominant  in  his  plans,  the  chief  eunuch  was  often  practically 
the  ruler  of  the  empire.  It  was  said  that  he  had  considerable 
influence  in  the  reign  of  Abdul  Aziz.  Under  the  present 
Sultan  it  is  generally  understood  that  he  is  purely  a  palace 
official,  with  no  relation  to  outside  matters.  The  introducer 
of  ambassadors  is  generally  a  man  personally  agreeable  to  the 
Sultan,  and  who,  by  virtue  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  different 
representatives  of  the  foreign  governments,  is  able,  in  quiet, 
unofficial  ways,  to  exert  considerable  influence.  One  man 
who  has  for  a  long  time  been  quite  prominent  is  the  well- 
known  General  Osman  Pasha.  His  heroic  defense  of  Plevna 
made  him  quite  a  hero  in  Turkish  eyes,  and  his  influence  in 
many  things  has  been  quite  noticeable.  With  regard  to  the 
Dervishes,  it  is  difficult  to  speak  with  any  degree  of  certainty. 
They  are  men  gathered  from  different  parts  of  the  empire, 
who  for  one  reason  or  another,  perhaps  personal,  perhaps 
due  to  the  locality  from  which  they  came,  have  made  them¬ 
selves  agreeable  to  the  Sultan  or  have  made  themselves 
useful.  In  general  they  represent  to  him  the  distinctively 
Moslem  feeling  of  his  empire  and  of  the  general  Moslem 
world.  There  have  been  many  reports  as  to  their  over¬ 
powering  influence,  and  names  have  been  given  of  one  and 
another  who  seemed  to  dominate  the  Sultan  absolutely. 
These  reports  must  be  taken  with  large  allowance.  While 
undoubtedly  they  have  manifested  considerable  power  on 
different  occasions,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  that  power 
has  been  at  any  time  prominent  or  predominant,  whether  they 
have  not  more  often  been  the  tools  of  the  Sultan  rather 
than  his  masters. 

One  other  department  should  be  mentioned,  the  Council 
of  State  or  Privy  Council.  This  is  a  large  body,  made  up 


THE  ULEMA. 


300 

of  most  of  those  who  have  been  prominent  in  public  affairs. 
They  may  have  been  members  of  the  Cabinet  or  not.  Their 
duties  are  advisory  rather  than  official.  The  only  one  among 
them  having  a  definite  position  is  the  president,  who  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Porte  or  Cabinet.  In  ordinary  times  they  do 
not  appear  before  the  public  to  any  great  degree.  On  some 
occasions,  however,  they  form  a  very  influential  element  in 
the  management  of  affairs.  Reference  has  been  also  made  to 
the  Ulema.  Of  these  there  is  no  definite  organization.  It  is 
a  general  body  including  the  prominent  instructors  in  Moslem 
law  connected  with  the  different  Mosques.  They  appear  in 
the  regular  government  only  in  the  person  of  the  Sheik-ul- 
Islain,  who  is  a  member  of  the  Cabinet  or  Sublime  Porte. 

Dominating  all  these  departments  is  the  Sultan  himself. 
His  word  is  law,  and  no  official  order  of  the  Porte,  the 
Council  of  State,  or  connected  with  the  Palace,  can  stand 
against  his  personal  displeasure.  At  the  same  time,  as  in  all 
autocratic  governments,  he  is  by  no  means  an  absolutely  in¬ 
dependent  ruler.  He  is  compelled  by  force  of  circumstances 
to  recognize  the  very  diverse  interests  about  him  ;  to  realize 
that  he  must  on  the  one  hand  keep  on  good  terms  with  the 
nations  of  Europe,  and  not  less  carefully  guard  against 
offending  those  who  have  a  great  hold  upon  his  Moslem 
subjects,  and  who  may  influence  very  seriously  his  position  as 
Caliph  of  the  Moslem  world.  It  is  thus  that  the  personality 
of  the  Sultan  is,  after  all,  the  most  important  element  in  the 
Turkish  Government.  In  cases  like  the  Conqueror  of  Con¬ 
stantinople,  Mahmud  II,  and  others,  that  influence  is  positive  ; 
in  the  case  of  others  it  is  negative,  and  the  positive  influence 
has  rested  with  one  or  another  branch  of  the  government. 
Under  the  present  reign  the  positive  influence  of  the  Sultan 


abdul  hamid’s  individuality. 


3QI 


himself  is  a  most  important  factor,  recognized  as  such  by  all 
who  have  come  into  personal  contact  with  him.  And  no  one 
who  has  followed  the  course  of  his  reign  can  fail  to  recognize 
the  great  degree  to  which  Abdul  Hamid  III  has  impressed 
his  individuality  upon  the  Turkish  Government. 


\ 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Protestant  Missions  in  Turkey. 

Early  History— Opposition  of  Ecclesiastics  in  the  Oriental  Churches — Attitude  of  the 
Turkish  Government— Work  Among  Moslems — Development  of  Education — Societies 

at  Work _ The  American  Board — Presbyterian  Boards — American  and  British  Bible 

Societies — English  Societies — General  Statistics— Relations  to  the  Turkish  Government 
— Character  of  the  Missionaries. 

NO  statement  of  Turkey  is  complete  without  an  account 
of  the  rise  and  development  of  Protestant  mission 
work.  The  first  effort  of  this  kind  in  modern  times  was  put 
forth  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  Soon  after 
its  organization  in  1804  colporteurs  were  sent  inland  from 
Smyrna,  and  subsequent  missionaries  found  to  a  considerable 
decree  traces  of  their  work.  There  was  also  an  attempt 
on  the  part  of  English  societies  to  reach  the  country  from 
Malta,  but  there  was  no  organized  effort  until  that  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  at  that  time  representing 
the  Congregational,  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Churches  of 
the  United  States.  In  1819  two  missionaries  left  Boston  ap¬ 
pointed  to  work  in  Palestine.  They  stopped  at  Malta  and 
conferred  with  the  representatives  of  the  Church  Missionary 
and  London  Missionary  Societies  of  England,  and  then  went 
to  Smyrna.  It  did  not  take  long  for  them  to  realize  that  there 
was  little  opportunity  for  successful  work  in  the  vicinity  of 
Jerusalem,  and  they  turned  their  attention  to  the  Oriental 
Churches  with  which  they  came  in  contact.  They  were  joined 
during  the  following  years  by  a  number  of  others,  and  aside 
(3°2) 


ORIENTAL  CHURCHES. 


303 


from  Smyrna  there  were  stations  occupied  at  Beirut  and  at 
Constantinople;  this  last  in  1832. 

Without  entering  into  any  detailed  account  of  the  occupa¬ 
tion  of  the  different  cities  by  individual  missionaries,  a  cren- 
eral  statement  as  to  their  relations  to  the  different  races  and 
religions  and  the  progress  of  their  influence  among  them  will 
furnish  what  is  most  essential  for  the  present  purpose.  This 
may  be  done  under  two  heads;  the  Oriental  Churches,  and 
Moslems.  The  work  among  the  Jews  has  been  carried  on  to 
a  limited  degree  chiefly  by  Scotch  Presbyterians  and  members 
of  the  Church  of  England,  but  it  has  not  been  of  such  general 
success  as  to  materially  affect  the  empire.  Other  work  has 
entered  into  the  development  of  the  empire  in  a  most 
noticeable  degree. 

We  take  up  first  work  among  the  Oriental  Churches. 
Th  ese  include  the  Armenian,  Greek,  Bulgarian,  Jacobite, 
Nestorian,  Chaldean  and  Maronite.  For  the  general  state¬ 
ment  of  these  see  a  preceding  chapter.  It  is  sufficient  here 
to  speak  of  the  relations  that  Protestant  missions  have  held 
towards  them  all.  The  first  missionaries  entered  upon  their 
work  with  no  thought  whatever  of  proselyting.  They  recog¬ 
nized  the  essential  Christian  character  of  the  churches,  and 
their  object  was  to  set  before  them  not  a  new  creed  or  a  dif¬ 
ferent  form  of  church  government,  but  simply  a  higher  con¬ 
ception  of  what  constituted  Christian  life.  They  found  almost 
absolute  ignorance  of  the  Bible ;  complete  domination  by  an 
ignorant  and  superstitious  hierarchy,  and  a  general  feeling 
that  their  church  life  was  so  thoroughly  identified  with  national 
life  that  to  leave  the  church  was  to  leave  the  nation,  and  that 
every  heretic  was  also  a  traitor.  Combined  with  all  of  these 
was  the  peculiar  civil  organization  by  which  the  ecclesiastics 


304 


HOSTILITIES  OF  PRIESTS. 


were  the  practical  rulers  in  every  community  and  were  en¬ 
abled  to  exercise  a  pressure,  the  extent  and  severity  of  which 
it  is  almost  impossible  for  us  to  understand  at  this  time. 
Excommunication  from  the  church  meant  far  more  than  ec¬ 
clesiastical  disability;  it  involved  the  absolute  loss  of  any  civil 
status.  An  Armenian  or  a  Greek  who  incurred  the  hostility 
of  his  bishop  and  was  placed  under  the  ban  had  no  rights 
that  any  one  was  bound  to  respect.  He  could  neither  be 
baptized  nor  be  buried  ;  he  could  neither  marry  nor  purchase ; 
no  baker  would  furnish  him  with  bread  and  no  butcher  with 
meat ;  no  one  would  employ  him  and  no  court  recognized  his 
existence  so  as  to  give  him  the  most  ordinary  protection. 

The  full  extent  of  this  situation  did  not  appear  at  first. 
The  early  missionaries  sought  merely  to  explain  the  Bible 
doctrine  of  a  purer,  truer  life  dependent  upon  the  atoning 
work  of  Christ.  As  always,  they  met  with  some  who  seemed 
to  be  looking  for  just  such  truth,  and  not  a  few  welcomed 
very  gladly  the  teaching.  The  moment  this  became  apparent, 
however,  the  priests  began  to  realize  that  their  power  was  in 
danger.  Undoubtedly  in  some  cases  their  hostility  was  per¬ 
fectly  sincere.  They  really  thought  that  it  was  dangerous  for 
these  people  to  read  the  Bible  for  themselves.  Fortified  by 
the  traditions  and  education  of  centuries  they  felt  that  the 
complete  acceptance  of  certain  formulas  was  absolutely  essen¬ 
tial  to  eternal  life.  There  were  others,  however,  who  feared 
far  mote  the  loss  of  political  influence.  There  was  just  be¬ 
ginning  to  dawn  upon  Western  Asia  the  light  of  European 
civilization.  Its  influence  was  felt  on  every  hand,  as  yet  very 
vaguely  in  most  cases,  but  perhaps  all  the  more  forcibly. 
The  Greeks  and  Armenians  had  been  trained  to  look  upon 
the  Western  churches  as  heretics  or  at  least  schismatics. 


CIRCASSIAN  OFFICER  IN  THE  SULTAN’S  ARMY.  After  the 
defeat  of  Schamyl,  the  famous  Circassian  leader,  multitudes  of  his  people  came 
into  Turkey  and  spread  over  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor.  They  are  powerful,  fear¬ 
less  men,  and  committed  widespread  depredations  among  the  villages.  They  are 
bolder  than  the  Kurds  and  much  braver ;  are  all  bigoted  Moslems. 


SLAUGHTER  OF  ARMENIANS  AT  SASSUN.  This  is  a  fair  illustration  of  the  slaughter  of  innocents  that 
the  bloody  Kurds  and  infuriated  soldiers  have  visited  upon  the  unarmed  and  unoffending  Armenians,  resulting  in  the 
murder  of  some  50,000  or  more,  and  through  pillage  and  tire  rendering  homeless  and  destitute  hundreds  of  thousands. 


STRIFE  OF  CHURCHES. 


307 


The  remembrance  of  the  strife  that  preceded  the  final  break 
between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Greek  Churches  has 
been  handed  down  until  the  bitterness  of  hostility  which  rules 
is  scarcely  conceivable.  The  predominant  feeling  was  that 
whatever  of  weakness  or  of  poverty  there  was,  was  due  en¬ 
tirely  to  the  tyranny  of  the  Turkish  Government  which  had 
held  them  in  thrall  for  nearly  four  centuries.  They  saw  that 
government  perceptibly  changing.  Mahmud  II  was  mani¬ 
festly  recognizing  that  old-time  methods  were  incompatible 
with  the  changing  situation,  and  was  introducing  customs 
which  to  the  traditional  Turk  savored  of  revolution  if  not  of 
denial  of  the  faith. 

The  ecclesiastics  of  the  Christian  churches  in  a  certain  dim 
way  probably  thought  that  if  at  this  time  they  could  hold  their 
own  positively,  and  even  aggressively,  there  would  come  to 
them  a  share  of  the  improvement  all  expected  in  the  future. 
It  is  therefore  from  every  standpoint  scarcely  surprising  that 
they  failed  to  recognize  the  true  character  of  the  work  com¬ 
menced  among  them  by  these  representatives  of  a,  to  them, 
despised  church.  The  strife  that  followed  was  exceedingly 
bitter.  On  the  one  hand  there  was  the  all-engrossing  power 
of  the  hierarchy,  on  the  other  the  irresistible  force  which  the 
reception  of  new  ideas  in  an  old  established  community 
always  betrays.  Persecution  merely  fanned  the  flame  of 
eager  desire  to  learn  what  it  was  that  so  aroused  the  ire  of 
the  priests,  whose  power  indeed  had  been  recognized,  but  who, 
in  the  degenerate  condition  of  the  church,  had  largely  lost 
their  personal  influence  over  the  people.  Man  after  man, 
women  even,  came,  openly  at  times,  usually  secretly,  to  the 
homes  of  missionaries,  not  themselves  with  any  thought  of 
leaving  the  old  church,  simply  anxious  to  understand  more 


3°8 


EXCOM  MUNICATION. 


perfectly  what  they  had  been  taught  from  childhood.  Over 
both,  watching  with  a  curious  and  somewhat  nonchalant  eye, 
was  the  Turkish  Government.  It  cared  not  a  straw  what  par¬ 
ticular  form  of  worship  the  “  infidel  dogs  ”  preferred.  On  the 
whole  its  officers  were  rather  pleased  at  the  newly  offered 
opportunity  for  carrying  out  their  traditional  policy  of  ruling 
through  the  disunion  of  either  their  subjects,  their  allies,  or 
their  enemies. 

It  was  not  long  before  matters  came  to  a  crisis.  The 
priests  issued  their  bulls  of  excommunication  and  those  thus 
excommunicated  naturally  came  to  the  missionaries  for  assist¬ 
ance.  They  were  indeed  in  a  pitiable  condition,  some  of  them 
persons  of  wealth  and  education,  all  of  intellectual  ability,  and 
keenly  sensitive  to  the  charges  brought  against  them.  Com¬ 
mon  humanity  compelled  the  missionaries  to  interest  them¬ 
selves  in  their  welfare,  and  they  appealed  to  the  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  Protestant  Powers  at  Constantinople.  They  in 
turn  carried  the  matter  before  the  Turkish  Government,  and 
the  Turkish  Government  in  its  semi-lordly,  semi-contemptu¬ 
ous  way,  reached  out  a  hand  of  protection  to  the  unfortunate 
objects  of  ecclesiastical  persecution.  They  granted  a  quasi- 
civil  organization  to  these  Evangelical  or  Protestant  Arme¬ 
nians,  as  they  were  called,  and  recognized  them  as  a  distinct 
body,  notwithstanding  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  Armenian 
and  Greek  Patriarchs.  They,  however  took  care  not  to  give 
this  new  body  so  much  of  power,  or  rather  so  much  of  pres¬ 
tige,  as  to  materially  affect  the  standing  of  the  older  commu¬ 
nities.  They  used  it  as  a  foil  to  ward  off  dangers  which  they 
conceived  might  come  rather  than  as  a  means  of  doing  justice 
to  a  portion  of  their  subjects.  One  instance  will  furnish  an 
illustration  of  the  situation.  One  of  the  honored  members  of 


ECCLESIASTICAL  PRIDE. 


3°9 


the  Evangelical  community  died.  The  question  arose  where 
he  should  be  buried.  To  bury  him  in  the  regular  Armenian 
burying-ground,  consecrated  by  the  bishops,  was  out  of  the 
question.  The  Turkish  Government  granted  a  separate  plot, 
but  the  Armenians  were  bound  that  he  should  not  be  buried 
at  all.  Every  effort  was  made  to  preserve  secrecy.  The 
time  of  the  service  became  known  and  a  great  mob  collected. 
The  Turkish  Government  was  appealed  to  and  the  military 
was  drawn  out.  And  this  simple  Evangelical  Armenian  was 
buried  amid  a  pomp  of  military  display  and  a  manifestation 
of  racial  and  ecclesiastical  hatred  which  was  a  fit  symbol  of 
the  conflict  that  was  to  signalize  the  whole  century. 

If  special  description  is  given  of  the  work  among  the  Ar¬ 
menians,  it  is  merely  because  they  attracted  the  most  of  public 
attention.  There  were  missionaries  who  sought  to  reach  the 
Greeks,  but  their  efforts  met  with  very  little  of  success.  Their 
national  and  ecclesiastical  pride  was  too  strong,  and  their 
nearer  relations  to  Western  life  made  the  new  teaching  appear 
less  attractive  than  to  those  to  whom  it  was  in  great  degree 
a  revelation.  In  Syria  also  a  work  had  been  commenced, 
chiefly  among  the  Maronites  of  Mount  Lebanon,  and  carried 
to  a  great  degree  of  success,  so  also  among  the  Nestorians 
and  Jacobites  of  Eastern  Turkey  and  the  mountains  along  the 
Persian  border.  It  was  among  the  Armenians,  however,  that 
the  greatest  efforts  were  put  forth  and  the  greatest  success 
achieved.  The  general  methods  of  work  were  the  same  with 
all  and  whatever  was  done  for  one  race  was  done  with  vary¬ 
ing  degrees  of  success  for  all  the.  Christian  peoples  of  the 
empire. 

Of  work  among  the  Moslems  there  has  been  very  little. 
Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  reach  them  with  special 


MISSION  INFLUENCES. 


310 

work,  but  aside  from  the  experiments  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  America  at  Busrah  and  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  at 
Sheikh  Othman  in  Arabia,  all  have  failed.  There  have  been 
several  converts  from  Mohammedanism  in  different  parts  of 
the  empire,  especially  in  Egypt,  but  no  general  movement 
Large  numbers  of  Bibles  in  Turkish  and  Arabic  are  bought 
by  Moslems  and  it  is  evident  that  there  are  a  number 
who  would  accept  Christianity,  but  for  the  fact  that  the 
penalty  is  absolute  loss  of  property,  if  not  of  life.  So  long 
as  the  Turkish  Government  holds  absolute  power  it  cannot 
be  expected  that  much  impression  will  be  made  on  the  Moslem 
population. 

Within  twenty-five  years  after  the  establishment  of  the 
work  at  Constantinople,  the  mission  influences  had  spread 
throughout  the  empire.  There  were  missionaries  at  Trebi- 
zond,  Erzrum,  Diabekir,  Ain  tab,  Brusa  and  Sivas.  There 
were  also  smaller  communities  in  the  different  villages  within 
reach  of  these  central  stations  and  the  Evangelicals  or  Protes- 
tant  Armenians  had  come  to  be  recognized  on  every  hand  as 
a  power  in  the  land.  With  the  practical  victory  of  Turkey 
and  her  allies  over  Russia  and  the  promulgation  of  the  treaty 
of  Paris  referred  to  above,  there  came  increasing  demand 
upon  the  Christian  powers  for  recognition  and  protection  of 
those  who  accepted  the  Evangelical  ideas  and  forms.  The 
Hatti  Humayoun  was  issued,  the  charter  of  religious  liberty. 
With  this  commenced  in  a  certain  sense  a  new  phase  of 
missionary  work.  Hitherto  it  had  been  almost  entirely 
evangelistic.  The  effort  had  been  to  reach  the  consciences  of 
the  people  and  set  before  them  the  Gospel  demand  for  a  pure 
and  true  life.  There  was  comparatively  little  of  general  educa¬ 
tion.  With  the  growth,  however,  of  the  communities  and  the 


EDUCATION  ESSENTIAL. 


3*1 

recognition  of  the  fact  that  a  community  life  was  before  them 
such  as  had  neither  been  expected  nor  planned,  it  became 
evident  to  all  that  emphasis  must  be  placed  upon  those  same 
principles  of  community  development  which  had  done  so  much 
for  England  and  America.  It  was  not  sufficient  to  put  the 
Bible  into  men’s  hands  nor  to  develop  within  them  the  idea 
of  their  relation  to  God.  They  must  learn  to  interpret  the 
Bible  and  apply  it  to  their  daily  life  ;  must  learn  the  princi¬ 
ples  that  governed  social  and  civil  organizations.  Hence  ed¬ 
ucation  in  its  broader  sense  became  essential. 

Education  in  the  primary  sense  had  always  been  carried  on 
by  the  missionaries.  A  certain  amount  was  needed  in  order 
to  enable  the  people  to  read,  for  there  was  widespread  igno¬ 
rance  in  that  respect.  It  was  essential  in  some  degree  for 
those  who  were  under  training  to  be  the  spiritual  guides  of 
their  people.  Now  it  became  evident  that  something  more 
was  necessary.  At  first  there  was  considerable  difference  of 
opinion.  Many  of  the  missionaries  themselves  felt  that  they 
were  simply  heralds  of  spiritual  truth.  They  could  not  admit 
that  they  had  anything  to  do  with  secular  education.  Others 
realized  that  secular  education  has  a  fundamentally  important 
place  in  the  development  of  national  life  ;  that  it  is  essential 
that  that  should  be  under  religious  influence  if  the  general 
life  is  to  be  in  accord  with  true  religious  development.  More¬ 
over  the  demand  for  this  was  increasing.  Youno-  men  of  in- 
tellectual  attainments  sought  instruction.  They  found  opening 
before  them  a  constantly  widening  sphere  of  thought  and  of 
investigation  which  they  must  enter.  They  would  rather 
enter  it  under  the  lead  of  Christian  thought,  but  enter  it  they 
would,  and  if  the  missionaries  refused  their  counsel  they  would 
go  to  what  were  then  almost  purely  infidel  schools  in  Europe. 


3T2 


CHRISTIAN  COLLEGES. 


Thus  there  was  started,  in  minor  form  at  first,  afterwards  more 
fully  developed,  a  system  of  education  that  has  grown  until, 
taking  into  consideration  the  obstacles  and  perplexities  at¬ 
tending  it,  it  is  surpassed  in  its  widespread  and  high  influence 
by  no  educational  system  even  in  far  more  favored  lands. 

As  in  regard  to  the  spread  of  the  Evangelistic  work,  so 
here  it  is  not  the  purpose  to  describe  in  detail  the  growth  of 
this  school  system.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  five  years  later, 
in  1 86 1,  Robert  College  was  started  on  the  shores  of  the 
Bosporus  by  one  who  had  been  from  the  very  beginning  an 
earnest  supporter  of  the  idea  that  evangelism  and  education 
must  go  hand  in  hand  if  there  is  to  be  any  Christian  national 
life.  He  had  had  experience  in  the  work  of  training  preach¬ 
ers,  and  he  realized  that  preachers  need  preparatory  instruc¬ 
tion.  The  story  of  the  years  during  which  he  battled  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  Armenian  and  Greek  priests,  of  Papal  representa¬ 
tives,  and  even  of  French  and  Russian  ambassadors,  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  on  record.  Robert  Colleee  was  foi¬ 
lowed  within  two  years  by  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  of 
Beirut.  Then  commenced  the  development  of  the  primary, 
intermediate  and  higher  schools  that  had  already  been  formed 
throughout  the  empire  into  larger  institutions,  until  there  are 
to-day  in  the  Turkish  Empire  seven  colleges  all  under  Chris¬ 
tian  influence,  though  not  all  directly  connected  with  mission¬ 
ary  enterprise.  There  are  also  hospitals,  orphanages  and  a 
variety  of  institutions  which  owe  their  inception  to  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  missions,  even  in  cases  where  they  are  entirely 
under  native  control. 

A  general  survey  of  missions  in  the  Turkish  Empire  at  the 
present  time  shows  that  there  are  the  following  societies  at 
work : 


MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES. 


3X3 

From  this  country  there  are  the  American  Board,  represent¬ 
ing  the  Congregational  Churches;  the  Boards  of  Missions  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  (North),  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  (Covenanter), 
and  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church;  the  Foreign  Christian 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ;  the  American 
Bible  Society,  and  several  independent  workers  connected 
with  other  organizations.  There  are  also  a  number  of  English 
societies;  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Ireland,  the  Free  and  Established  Churches  of  Scot¬ 
land,  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  several  socie¬ 
ties  for  special  work  among  the  Jews.  The  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  work  in  Bulgaria, 
which,  however,  hardly  comes  under  review  as  a  part  of  the 
Turkish  Empire. 

Of  all  these  the  largest  work  is  that  done  by  the  American 
Board.  It  covers  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor  and  Eastern 
Turkey  together  with  Macedonia  and  a  portion  of  Bulgaria. 
The  latest  statistics  show  that  there  are  176  American  mis¬ 
sionaries,  including  56  ordained  ministers  and  68  unmarried 
women,  most  of  them  engaged  in  teaching.  There  are  also 
869  native  laborers,  including  100  ordained  ministers  and  128 
other  preachers,  the  remainder  being  chiefly  teachers.  They 
occupy  19  principal  stations  and  have  work  in  306  important 
out-stations.  (The  term  out-station  is  given  to  a  town  or  city 
where  there  are  preaching  services  and  educational  work  and 
sometimes  a  missionary  resident,  but  not  the  full  organization 
of  a  mission  station.)  These  are  all  divided  into  four  mis¬ 
sions,  called:  The  European  Turkey  Mission,  covering  Mace¬ 
donia  and  Bulgaria;  the  Western  Turkey  Mission,  covering 
Western  Asia  Minor;  the  Eastern  Turkey  Mission,  covering 


1 


MISSIONARY  STATIONS. 


3I4 

Eastern  Turkey;  and  the  Central  Turkey  Mission,  covering 
Northern  Syria  south  of  the  Taurus  Mountains.  Constantino¬ 
ple  is  the  general  headquarters  for  all  four  missions,  and  has 
a  large  staff  of  missionaries  engaged  in  the  general  conduct 
of  the  work,  the  preparation  of  literature  and  evangelistic 
work  to  a  limited  degree.  The  important  stations  aside  from 
this  are  as  follows:  In  the  European  Turkey  Mission,  Sama- 
kov  and  Philippopolis  in  Bulgaria,  and  Salonica  and  Monastir 
in  Macedonia;  Western  Turkey  Mission:  Brusa,  Smyrna, 
Marsovan,  Cesarea,  Sivas  and  Trebizond,  this  last  being  asso¬ 
ciated  with  this  mission  because  of  easy  access  by  sea;  Eastern 
Turkey  Mission:  Erzrum,  Harput,  Bitlis,  Van  and  Mardin; 
Central  Turkey  Mission:  Aintab,  Marash,  Adana  and  Hajin. 
Aside  from  these  there  are  many  important  cities  occupied, 
such  as  Nicomedia,  on  the  gulf  of  that  name;  Angora,  Yuzgat, 
Amasia,  Tokat,  in  Western  Turkey;  Arabkir,  Malatia,  Palu, 
Diarbekir,  in  Eastern  Turkey;  Urfa,  Birejik,  Albistan  and 
Tarsus,  in  Central  Turkey.  The  city  of  Aleppo,  just  south 
of  Aintab,  has  been  occupied  at  times  by  the  American  Board, 
but  the  language  being  Arabic,  association  with  the  work  at 

Aintab  has  been  somewhat  difficult,  and  hence  it  has  not  been 
developed. 

In  all  of  this  great  field  the  chief  work  has  been  carried  on 
in  Europe  among  the  Bulgarians,  and  in  Asia  among  the 
Armenians,  though  from  the  city  of  Mardin  considerable 
work  has  been  done  among  the  Jacobites  of  Northern 

Mesopotamia.  The  result  of  this  work  is  seen  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  statements: 

In  European  Turkey  the  number  of  places  for  stated 
preaching  is  42  ;  the  average  congregations  number  2,278  ; 
the  number  of  organized  churches  is  1 4,  and  of  church  members 


CHURCHES  AND  SCHOOLS. 


315 

952,  while  2,713  are  ordinarily  classed  as  belonging  to  the 
Evangelical  community.  There  is  one  theological  school  with 
8  students ;  one  training  school  for  boys  with  65  students  ; 
two  boarding  schools  for  girls  with  92  pupils,  while  there  are 
1 7  common  schools  with  450  pupils.  In  this  field  the  Bul¬ 
garian  Government  has  established  an  excellent  system  of 
schools,  so  that  the  missionaries  have  not  been  compelled  to 
do  as  much  work  in  that  line.  There  are  also  a  large 
number  of  Bulgarian  students  in  Robert  College  at  Constanti¬ 
nople.  In  Western  Turkey  the  result  of  these  years  shows 
122  places  for  stated  preaching,  with  average  congregations 
of  10,336;  35  organized  churches  with  a  membership  of 
3,604  and  a  Protestant  community  numbering  over  14,000. 
There  is  a  theological  seminary  with  6  pupils ;  schools  for 
higher  education  with  528  boys  and  686  girls,  while  there  are 
122  common  schools  with  a  membership  of  5,027.  These 
figures  do  not  include  Robert  College  at  Constantinople, 
which  is  on  an  entirely  independent  basis,  and  has  a  staff  of 
21  professors  and  instructors  and  about  200  students.  They 
do,  however,  include  the  American  College  for  Girls  in  Con¬ 
stantinople  with  its  23  teachers  and  161  pupils.  In  Eastern 
Turkey  there  are  1 1 1  places  for  stated  preaching,  with 
average  congregations  of  1 1,639  ;  42  churches  with  a  member¬ 
ship  of  3,107  and  a  Protestant  community  of  nearly  17,000. 
The  two  theological  classes  have  been  seriously  broken  up 
by  the  disturbances,  but  only  a  short  time  ago  had  1 1  mem¬ 
bers.  There  are  364  boys  and  220  girls  in  schools  for  higher 
education,  and  6,232  pupils  in  the  130  common  schools.  In 
Central  Turkey  there  are  52  places  for  stated  preaching  with 
an  average  congregation  of  over  10,000;  34  churches  with  a 
membership  of  5,124,  a  Protestant  community  of  15,374,  a 


31 6 


LITERATURE. 


theological  class  of  9  students,  and  the  pupils  in  the  schools 
for  higher  education  number  321  boys  and  300  girls ;  while 
in  the  98  common  schools  there  are  4,326  pupils.  These 
statistics,  however,  give  but  a  very  partial  conception  of  the 
work  done.  As  has  already  been  intimated,  the  schools 
established  by  the  missionaries  have  been  in  many  cases 
duplicated  by  the  Gregorian  Armenians  themselves,  and  the 
influences  that  have  gone  forth  from  these  preaching  places 
have  been  most  effective  in  raising  the  general  tone  of  com¬ 
munity  life  throughout  the  empire.  In  many  places  the 
preaching  in  the  Gregorian  churches  is  of  a  most  thoroughly 
evangelical  type.  There  are  Bible  classes  formed  in  many 
places  and  the  general  spiritual  as  well  as  moral  effect  of  the 
mission  work  is  by  no  means  to  be  gauged  by  the  figures  of 
statistics. 

One  of  the  most  important  branches  of  work  carried  on  by 
the  American  Board  is  that  of  furnishing  literature  for  the 
people.  There  are  conducted  in  Constantinople  four  week- 
.  lies  and  four  monthlies,  in  the  Bulgarian,  Armenian  and 
Turkish  languages,  there  being  two  Turkish  papers,  one 
printed  in  Armenian  characters  for  those  Armenians  who  use 
chiefly  the  Turkish  language,  and  one  in  Greek  characters 
for  the  Greeks  who  also  use  the  Turkish  lano-uao*e.  Aside 
from  these  there  are  school  books  and  books  of  general 
character,  predominantly  religious,  though  also  scientific  and 
literary,  issued  by  the  committee  of  the  mission  from  the 
Bible  House  in  Constantinople.  There  is  also  not  a  little 
medical  work  carried  on.  There  are  medical  missionaries  in 
several  of  the  interior  stations,  especially  Cesarea,  Van  and 
Mardin.  The  fact  that  a  large  number  of  Armenians  have 
studied  medicine  in  this  country  and  have  returned  has 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  MISSION.  317 

lessened  the  demand  for  American  medical  missionaries.  At 
Aintab  there  is  a  hospital  under  the  care  of  Americans  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Aintab  College,  but  not  under  the  immediate 
control  of  the  mission. 

The  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  (North) 
occupies  Syria  and  Mesopotamia.  In  Syria  there  are  14  or¬ 
dained  missionaries,  2  medical  missionaries,  including  one 
woman,  and  9  unmarried  lady  missionaries,  making  the  total 
American  force  39.  There  are  6  native  pastors,  26  organized 
churches  with  a  membership  of  2,048.  In  the  Syrian 
Protestant  College  at  Beirut,  which  is  in  harmony  with,  though 
not  under  the  direct  control  of  the  mission,  there  are  266 
pupils;  there  are  also  boarding  schools  for  boys  with  213 
pupils  and  for  girls  with  270  pupils  ;  8  high  schools  with  478 
pupils,  and  130  common  schools  with  6,387  pupils.  The 
stations  occupied  are  Beirut,  Abieh  on  Mount  Lebanon, 
Tripoli  and  Sidon  on  the  seacoast,  and  Zahleh  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  Mount  Lebanon.  The  work  of  this  mission  has  been 
chiefly  among  the  Maronites,  though  to  some  degree  among 
the  other  races.  The  influence  of  the  mission,  however,  is  by 
no  means  to  be  measured  by  its  size.  It  was  here  in  Beirut 
that  the  Arabic  version  of  the  Scriptures  was  prepared,  the 
foundation  being  laid  by  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  and  the  completion 
being  under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  C.  V.  A.  Van  Dyck,  both 
men  famous  as  amona  the  finest  orientalists  in  the  world. 

o 

The  version  prepared  by  them  is  unsurpassed  by  versions  of 
the  Bible  anywhere,  and  has  perhaps  the  widest  use  of  any 
except  the  English.  It  is  in  the  vernacular  not  only  of  Syria 
and  Arabia,  but  of  Northern  and  Central  Africa  ;  is  used  with 
facility  in  India,  China  and  Malaysia,  and  everywhere  where 
the  Arabic  language  has  spread.  Its  influence  for  good  can- 


318  UNITED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  MISSION. 

not  be  measured.  The  same  should  be  said  of  the  college, 
with  its  medical  as  well  as  academical  department.  Its 
graduates  are  found  all  over  the  East. 

The  Mesopotamia  mission  of  this  Board  has  its  head¬ 
quarters  at  Mosul.  This  was  formerly  occupied  by  the 
American  Board,  but  because  of  its  close  connection  with  the 
Western  Persia  mission  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  it  was 
passed  over  to  that  Board.  The  work  is  chiefly  among  the 
Nestorians  of  the  mountains  and  to  a  degree  amoiF  the 
Jacobites  and  Chaldeans  of  the  city  itself.  It  has  schools  for 
boys  and  girls  fully  attended  in  the  city  itself,  and  Syriac 
village  schools  in  the  field.  During  the  past  year  (1895), 
owing  to  the  disturbance  in  the  mountains,  there  has  been 
much  difficulty  in  securing  full  attendance. 

The  mission  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  this 
country  is  located  in  Egypt  and  shows  a  very  marked  degree 
of  success.  The  principal  stations  occupied  are  Alexandria, 
Cairo,  Mansurieh,  Fayum  and  Osiut.  At  the  latter  place 
there  is  a  large  and  successful  college  with  a  department  for 
girls.  The  work  of  the  mission  is  among  the  Copts,  though, 
there  has  been  something  accomplished  among  the  Moslems. 

The  mission  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  (Covenanter) 
Church  is  located  in  Northern  Syria  and  occupies  the  stations 
of  Latakia  and  Mersine.  There  are  six  missionaries  in  the 
different  stations,  including  two  physicians.  Their  work  is 
chiefly  educational  among  the  Nusairyieh,  the  evangelistic 
work  among  that  class  of  people  being  extremely  difficult. 

The  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  is 
carrying  on  an  interesting  work  in  Arabia.  It  was  started  as 
an  independent  enterprise,  but  more  lately  has  been  taken  up 
by  the  Board.  Its  headquarters  are  at  Busrah  on  the  Persian 


AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY. 


3X9 


Gulf,  but  it  extends  all  along  the  coast,  working  solely  among 
the  Arabs.  The  mission  staff  is  still  very  small,  and  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  schools  has  not  yet  been  effected. 

The  Disciples  of  Christ  have  a  few  missionaries,  all 
Armenians  who  have  become  naturalized  Americans,  in  Con¬ 
stantinople  and  vicinity,  and  at  some  stations  in  the  interior. 
The  same  is  true  of  some  Baptist  work  carried  on  chiefly  by 
the  same  class  of  workers  and  supported  by  independent  or¬ 
ganizations  in  this  country. 

The  work  of  the  American  Bible  Society  covers  the  whole 
empire.  There  are  two  agents  resident  in  Constantinople 
with  sub-agents  in  Beirut  and  Alexandria.  A  large  staff  of 
colporteurs  is  employed,  numbering  during  the  past  year  over 
ioo,  some  of  them  directly  under  the  control  of  the  agency, 
others  under  the  supervision  of  missions  and  assisted  by  the 
agency.  The  agency  does  most  of  its  own  publishing,  includ¬ 
ing  printing  and  binding,  in  the  Bible  House  at  Constanti¬ 
nople  and  at  the  mission  press  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  in 
Beirut.  The  languages  are  :  Turkish  in  the  Arabic,  Armenian 
and  Greek  characters  ;  Armenian  both  ancient  and  modern, 
Bulgarian,  Kurdish  and  Arabic.  It  also  purchases  Scriptures 
in  other  languages  from  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So¬ 
ciety,  which  has  an  agency  also  in  the  same  places.  The 
total  distributions  during  the  year  1894  from  the  depots  at 
Constantinople  and  Beirut,  were  52,895  in  32  different  lan¬ 
guages  and  dialects,  including  most  of  the  European  as 
well  as  the  different  Oriental  languages.  Of  this  total  8,674 
were  Bibles,  13,826  New  Testaments  and  30,395  were  por¬ 
tions.  By  the  direct  agency  of  the  society  through  the  col¬ 
porteurs  and  in  their  depots,  the  total  distribution  was  31 ,678, 

while  21,107  were  through  correspondents,  the  largest  number 
19 


320 


ENGLISH  AND  SCOTCH  MISSIONS* 


being  in  Egypt,  14,258.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  of  the 
sales  from  the  Syrian  depot  6  Bibles  went  to  Zanzibar  on  the 
west  coast  of  Africa,  and  51  Bibles  and  500  Testaments  to 
Tangiers  in  Africa.  The  total  issues  for  37  years  amounted 
to  1,376,798,  and  of  the  distribution  for  the  past  year  it  is 
estimated  that  12,000  at  least  went  to  non-Christian  national¬ 
ities. 

Of  the  English  societies,  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of 
England  occupies  a  few  stations  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  the 
principal  ones  being  Jerusalem,  Jaffa,  Gaza  and  Nablus. 
There  are  also  a  number  of  out-stations.  The  missionaries 
number  1 1  ordained  clergy,  4  lay  workers  and  20  women. 
The  native  clergy  number  9  ordained  and  71  lay  workers. 
The  total  number  of  communicants  is  about  500.  There  are 
also  42  schools;  seminaries  with  1,752  students.  Medical 
work  is  carried  on  to  a  considerable  extent,  there  being  284 
in-patients  and  32,810  out-patients  under  the  care  of  the 
physicians.  The  work  is  among  Jews  and  also  among  the 
Maronites.  There  is  more  work  accomplished  by  this  society 
than  by  others  among  the  Moslems. 

The  Scotch  missions  have  stations  at  Constantinople, 
Smyrna  and  different  points  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  Their 
work  is  chiefly  educational  and  almost  entirely  confined  to  the 
Jews.  There  are  some  very  fine  schools  in  Syria  carried  on 
under  different  organizations,  English  and  Scotch,  intended 
primarily  for  the  education  of  girls.  They  have  accomplished 
an  excellent  work. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  conducts  its  work 
on  much  the  same  general  plan  as  the  American  Bible  So¬ 
ciety,  but  confines  its  efforts  more  to  the  coast.  Its  chief 
work  is  in  Bulgaria,  among  the  Greek  islands  and  along  the 


MISSIONARY  INFLUENCE. 


321 


Aegean  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  It  has  also  agencies  in  Syria 
and  Egypt.  Arrangements  are  made  between  the  two  Bible 
societies  so  that  they  shall  not  crowd  or  interfere  with  each 
other.  The  Turkish  agency  reports  a  circulation  of  31,548; 
the  Egypt  agency  of  15,191  ;  Syria  and  Palestine  4,741,  making 
a  total  of  51,480,  which  with  the  circulation  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  makes  a  grand  total  of  about  104,000  copies. 

This  survey  of  missions  in  the  Turkish  Empire  is  neces¬ 
sarily  very  meagre.  To  go  into  it  in  full  would  require  far 
more  space  than  can  be  given.  If  fuller  details  are  given 
with  regard  to  the  American  Board  it  is  simply  because  that 
Board  occupies  the  territory  which  is  more  especially  under 
notice  at  this  time. 

The  question  is  frequently  asked,  What  are  the  relations 
between  the  missionaries  and  the  Turkish  Government? 
Repeatedly  the  statement  is  made  by  that  government  that 
the  influence  of  the  missionaries  is  antagonistic,  disturbing 
and  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  present  rule.  This  is 
in  no  sense  true.  American  missionaries  have  invariably 
ranked  themselves  on  the  side  of  law.  They  have  taken  the 
position  that  the  Turkish  Government  is  the  government  of 
the  land  and  its  laws  must  be  obeyed.  If  those  laws  are  op¬ 
pressive  they  will  do  their  best  to  secure  a  change,  but  so 
long  as  the  law  is  law  it  must  be  obeyed.  In  all  the  various 
attempts  to  stir  up  revolutionary  feelings  among  the  people, 
they  have  opposed  with  all  their  influence  such  movements. 
It  is  undoubtedly  the  fact  that  the  general  result  of  their  in¬ 
struction  by  stirring  intellectual  development,  has  been  to 
make  men  restive  under  oppression.  Undoubtedly  their 
preaching  has  created  an  intense  desire  for  true  religious  lib¬ 
erty.  Undoubtedly  they  have  brought  light  into  the  empire, 


322 


CHARACTER  OF  MISSIONARIES. 


and  light  is  always  a  disturbing  element  where  there  is  cor¬ 
ruption  ;  it  creates  fermentation,  and  such  fermentation  as  is 
not  pleasant  to  oppressors.  As  has  already  been  indicated, 
they  have  found  some  of  their  most  bitter  opponents  among 
the  clergy  of  the  Christian  Churches,  even  more  bitter  than 
the  Turkish  rulers  themselves.  But  as  the  better  class  of  . 
that  clergy  have  come  to  recognize  the  value  of  their  instruc¬ 
tion  and  their  preaching,  so  the  better  class  of  Turkish  of¬ 
ficials  have  realized  that  there  are  no  more  loyal  subjects,  no 
more  honest  citizens  than  those  who  are  under  the  guidance 
of  the  American  missionaries.  Wherever  their  course  has 
been  objected  to  their  objectors  have  been  men  who  sought 
to  cover  up  their  evil  deeds  and  hide  from  the  world  the 
story  of  their  outrageous  conduct. 

Individually  there  is  no  question  but  that  the  missionaries 
represent  the  very  highest  grade  of  ability  and  personal 
character.  The  record  of  their  achievements  in  literature,  in 
research,  in  education,  is  not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  other 
class  of  men  or  women  in  the  world.  Ambassadors,  and  travelers 
of  high  character,  who  have  come  among  them,  have  uniformly 
borne  testimony  to  their  nobility,  and  the  high  position  that 
they  deservedly  hold  in  the  world.  Not  infrequently  the 
diplomatic  representatives  of  this  country  and  England  have 
come  to  their  post  at  Constantinople  with  the  feeling  that 
these  missionaries  were  a  set  of  honest  fanatics,  well  inten- 
tioned,  but  incapable  of  judging  accurately  and  wisely  as  to 
the  work  which  they  were  to  do.  In  not  one  single  case  has 
any  such  man  returned  from  his  post,  without  putting  on  record 
his  high  estimate  of  these  men  and  women.  Whether  it  be 
Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  Lord  Dufferin  or  Sir  Philip  Currie 
from  England,  Admiral  Porter,  General  Williams,  E.  Joy 


MISREPRESENTATIONS. 


323 


Morris,  Gen.  Lew.  Wallace  or  Oscar  Straus,  from  America, 
their  testimony  has  been  one  of  unvarying  praise  for  the 
conduct  of  the  mission  work,  and  those  who  have  had  longest 
experience  have  been  slow  to  condemn,  even  where  their  judg¬ 
ment  could  not  coincide  with  that  of  the  missionaries.  Such 
remarks  as  have  been  made  by  occasional  travelers,  who  have 
seen  only  the  outskirts  of  mission  work,  to  the  effect  that  they 
are  a  “bad  lot ;  ”  that  they  are  well  meaning,  but  ignorant  en¬ 
thusiasts,  have  simply  served  to  rank  those  who  uttered  them 
with  the  class  of  people  who  talk  about  what  they  know  noth¬ 
ing  of.  The  words  of  Sir  Philip  Currie,  uttered  in  private 
conversation  in  connection  with  the  recent  events  in  Turkey, 
will  stand  as  a  perpetual  refutal  of  any  such  charges.  He  said  : 

“The  one  bright  spot  in  all  the  darkness  that  has  covered 
Asiatic  Turkey,  has  been  the  heroism,  the  prudence  and  the 
common-sense  of  the  American  missionaries.” 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


The  Armenian  Question. 

A  Progressive  Grand  Vizier — Victory  of  the  Reactionary  Party — Egypt  and  the  Mahdi _ 

Rise  of  the  Armenian  Question — Russian  Intrigue — Articles  of  the  Berlin  Treaty — 
Autonomy  Desired — The  Huntchagist  Committee — Placards  in  Asia  Minor — Burning  of 
American  Building  at  Marsovan — Numerous  Arrests — Armenians  Exiled — Coercive 
Measures  of  the  Government — American  Citizens — Threats — Huntchagists  Disowned  by 
the  Nation — Young  Turkey  Party — Absolute  Failure  of  the  Huntchagist  Movement. 

THE  close  of  the  Russo-Turkish  war  and  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin  left  Abd-ul-Hamid  II  with  the  task  before  him  of 
building  up  an  empire  which  had  almost  fallen  to  pieces.  On 
the  one  hand  he  was  faced  by  the  demands  made  upon  him 
by  England ;  he  was  under  obligations  to  make  special  re¬ 
forms  in  Asia  Minor,  also  in  Macedonia,  Thessaly  and  Epirus, 
besides  granting  a  liberal  form  of  administration  to  Crete. 
On  the  other  hand  he  was  faced  by  an  internal  condition 
which  was  enough  to  daunt  the  bravest  man.  The  financial 
condition  of  the  empire  was  in  a  state  of  collapse ;  in  fact 
there  were  no  finances  of  any  sort.  The  regular  expendi¬ 
tures  more  than  doubled  the  regular  income  ;  the  currency 
was  in  a  hopelessly  disorganized  condition ;  gold,  silver, 
copper  and  paper  were  in  circulation.  The  silver,  however, 
had  several  different  values.  There  were  alloys  of  silver  and 
copper  of  varying  degrees  of  purity,  each  with  its  own  value ; 
(324) 


AN  HONEST  VIZIER. 


3^5 


the  paper  currency  also  was  never  worth  the  same  two  days 
in  succession.  The  whole  business  of  the  empire  was  dis¬ 
organized.  Various  attempts,  some  of  them  honest,  some 
thoroughly  dishonest,  almost  all  ludicrous,  were  made  to 
bring  order  out  of  chaos.  The  Sultan  entered  upon  his  task 
with  unquestionably  a  sincere  desire  for  the  welfare  of  his 
country,  as  is  shown  by  his  choice,  within  six  months  after  the 
signing  of  the  treaty  of  Berlin,  of  a  Grand  Vizier  who  had 
never  been  identified  with  Constantinople  intrigue.  Haired- 
din  Pasha,  a  Circassian  by  birth,  had  had  some  years  of  ex¬ 
perience  in  the  control  of  matters  in  Tunis.  He  was  known 
as  a  man  of  education,  strictly  honest  and  with  a  sense  of 
duty  very  rarely  to  be  found  in  the  East.  He  was  a  thorough 
Moslem,  believing  heart  and  soul  in  the  Mohammedan  faith  ; 
believing  also  that  it  was  thoroughly  adaptable  to  all  needs 
of  civilization,  and  that  it  could  be  made  equal  in  beneficent 
results  to  Christianity  as  set  forth  in  the  life  of  Europe.  His 
access  to  power  was  looked  upon  as  a  good  omen.  On  every 
hand  the  people  expected  him  to  restore  in  Turkey  all  the 
ancient  usages  of  Islam.  He  found  a  task  before  him  which 
demanded  all  his  energies.  He  found  officials  in  power  in 
the  provinces  who,  when  ordered  to  report  the  number  of 
able-bodied  Moslems  in  their  districts  and  draw  rifles  for  dis¬ 
tribution  among  them  to  check  a  revolt,  added  10  or  20  per 
cent,  to  the  actual  number,  drew  the  arms  and  then  sold 
those  not  required  for  the  Turks  to  the  Christians.  Others 
manifested  the  most  atrocious  lack  of  fidelity  to  their  duty  or 
of  common  sense  in  the  conduct  of  their  office.  But  this 
was  not  all ;  in  the  Porte  itself  the  management  was  sincerely 
opposed  to  all  real  reform.  The  very  clerks  managed  by  all 
sorts  of  devices  to  misrepresent  the  orders  that  were  given, 


326 


TROUBLE  IN  EGYPT. 


or  to  so  tamper  with  the  despatches  that  they  were  made  of 
no  avail.  Orders  to  provincial  governors  sent  out  from  the 
Palace  frequently  set  aside  previous  orders  of  the  ministry; 
the  intrigues  of  the  Palace  clique  permeated  every  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  public  service  and  the  attendants  upon  the  Sul¬ 
tan  succeeded  in  blinding  him  constantly  to  the  real  situation. 
The  first  thing  that  Haireddin  Pasha  did  was  to  send  away 
from  Constantinople  to  different  interior  provinces  nearly  all 
the  pashas  who  had  previously  held  the  office  of  grand  vizier. 
This,  of  course,  made  them  all  his  enemies  and  the  result  was 
that  he  found  himself  involved  in  a  struggle  for  his  very 
existence.  More  than  this,  he  made  it  manifest  that  his  idea 
of  justice  included  the  Christians  just  as  much  as  the  Moslems, 
and  that  Moslem  oppression  of  Christian  subjects  met  with 
no  favor  at  his  hands.  All  these  elements,  combined  with 
the  financial  stress,  for  which  in  the  popular  mind  he  was 
held  responsible,  helped  on  the  struggle.  At  last  he  pre¬ 
sented  an  ultimatum  to  the  Sultan,  in  which  he  demanded  his 
freedom,  within  the  limits  of  responsibility,  from  the  inter¬ 
ference  of  the  clerks  and  from  intervention  in  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  officials.  The  Sultan  hesitated  for  some  time,  but  at 
last  refused  to  give  this  on  the  ground  of  its  being  a  limita¬ 
tion  of  his  royal  prerogatives.  Haireddin  Pasha  resigned, 
and  his  place  was  taken  by  the  very  men  whom  he  had  sent 
away. 

Immediately  following  on  this  experience  came  the  trouble 
in  Egypt.  Mehemet  Ali  had  been  followed  by  Abbas,  a 
brutal  voluptuary,  and  he  by  Ismail,  a  man  of  great  ability, 
but  of  no  conscience,  who  had  pushed  the  country  forward  in 
some  respects,  but  had  so  enslaved  it  by  his  personal  extor¬ 
tion  as  almost  to  ruin  it.  Ismail  was  deposed  by  the  de- 


i  i  i 


ARABI  PASHA. 


327 


mands  of  the  European  Powers  interested  in  the  conduct  of 
the  Suez  Canal  and  the  securing  of  the  bonds  that  had  been 
placed  there,  and  was  followed  by  Tewfik,  a  good-natured, 
well-disposed,  but  weak  man,  incompetent  to  meet  the  diffi¬ 
culties  that  encompassed  him  on  every  hand.  Here  again 
the  financial  question  came  to  the  front.  The  interest  on  the 
bonds  must  be  paid  whether  the  army  officials  were  paid 
or  not.  Thus  arose  the  demand  for  the  national  party  and 
the  revolt  headed  by  Arabi  Pasha,  which  resulted  in  the  bom¬ 
bardment  of  Alexandria,  the  war  in  lower  Egypt  and  the 
military  occupation  of  the  country  by  Great  Britain.  An¬ 
other  important  element  in  this  was  the  desire  of  the  Sultan 
to  regain  his  hold  upon  the  country.  By  the  firman  given  to 
Mehemet  Ali,  the  Sultan  was  really  no  more  than  suzerain. 
He  felt  that  this  was  derogatory  to  his  honor  and  wished  to 
reduce  the  Khedive  to  the  position  of  Vali.  The  whole  story 
of  English,  French  and  Turkish  diplomacy  here  is  beyond  the 
limits  as  well  as  the  scope  of  this  book.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  it  furnished  an  additional  influence  in  determining  the 
policy  of  the  following  years,  carried  out  by  Abd-ul-Hamid  II. 

Immediately  consequent  on  the  trouble  in  Egypt  itself  came 
the  rise  of  the  Mahdi  in  the  Sudan.  References  have 
already  been  made  to  the  peculiar  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the 
Arabs  as  to  the  position  held  by  the  Sultans  as  caliphs  of  the 
Moslem  world.  That  existed  to  a  considerable  degree  not 
merely  in  Arabia,  but  throughout  Africa.  It  was  assisted  by 
the  terrible  oppression  of  the  Egyptian  Government  under  the 
Khedive  Ismail.  All  through  upper  Egypt,  and  especially  in 
the  Sudan,  there  was  the  bitterest  feeling,  and  when  in  1880 
a  certain  Mohammed  Ahmet,  a  boat-builder  of  Dongola  and 
belonging  to  the  Sennussi  tribe,  proclaimed  himself  as  the 


328 


THE  MAHDI. 


Mahdi,  he  almost  immediately  secured  quite  a  following. 
The  Mahdi,  or  last  high  priest,  or  Imam,  of  the  family  of  Ali, 
according  to  Moslem  tradition,  entered  a  cave  and  hencefor¬ 
ward  disappeared  from  the  world.  The  Shiite  Moslems  be¬ 
lieve  that  he  still  exists,  and  look  forward  to  his  issuing  from 
it  again  in  pomp  to  rule  the  world.  The  Sunnites  believe 
that  he  will  appear  only  at  the  end  of  the  world,  when 
he  will  convert  all  mankind  to  Islam  and  reien  as  vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ.  This  boat-builder  rapidly  won  veneration  from 
the  Arabs  of  his  section  by  the  learning  he  had  acquired  in 
the  schools  at  Khartum  and  Berber,  and  his  apparent  piety. 
He  also  manifested  considerable  ability  and  gathered  a  large 
force  of  Arabs,  making  considerable  advance,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  Sherif  of  Mecca  branded  him  as  an  impostor 
and  the  ecclesiastical  Ottoman  world  refused  to  believe  that 
he  had  any  claim  worthy  of  recognition.  He  set  forth  to 
conquer  Egypt,  defeated  four  expeditions  sent  against  him  by 
the  Egyptian  Government,  annihilated  the  Egyptian  army,  com¬ 
posed  of  10,000  soldiers,  with  40  European  officers,  and  cap¬ 
tured  Khartum,  killing  General  Gordon  Pasha,  the  famous 
English  leader.  Further  than  this,  however,  his  power  could 
not  go,  and  English  troops  kept  him  within  the  region  of  his 
own  Sudan. 

Insignificant  in  a  certain  way  in  itself,  this  Mahdi  move¬ 
ment  exerted  considerable  influence  throughout  the  empire. 
It  assisted  to  focus  attention  upon  the  distinctively  Moslem 
character  of  the  Ottoman  Government  and  furnished  quite  a 
factor  in  the  decision  which  became  manifest  ere  long  on 
the  part  of  the  Sultan  to  conduct  his  empire  on  different 
bases  from  those  accepted  by  his  father,  Abd-ul-Medjid,  or  his 
grandfather,  Mahmud  II.  In  truth  the  Sultan  seemed  shut  up 


REACTION. 


329 


to  one  of  two  courses.  He  must  either  enter  with  his  whole 
soul  into  the  line  marked  out  by  Haireddin  Pasha,  or  he  must 
identify  himself  still  more  closely  with  the  distinctively  Moslem 
element  in  his  empire.  He  found  himself  unable,  even  if  he 
had  been  desirous,  to  do  the  former,  and  undoubtedly  seemed 
to  himself  to  be  shut  up  to  the  latter.  His  principle,  there¬ 
fore,  of  government,  as  made  manifest  by  the  subsequent 
history  of  his  reign  and  illustrated  very  fully  in  a  later  chap¬ 
ter,  was  to  satisfy  the  Moslem  element  in  his  empire,  whether 
the  Christian  element  was  satisfied  or  not.  Accordingly  he 
commenced  a  systematic  course  of  developing  the  Moslem 
power  and  prestige  at  the  expense  of  the  Christians.  Little 
by  little  he  replaced  Christians  by  Moslems  in  the  administra¬ 
tive  offices  of  the  government ;  he  indorsed  increasingly  re¬ 
strictive  laws,  by  which  the  Christian  communities  were 
deprived  of  very  much  of  the  advance  that  had  been  made 
manifest  during  the  three  preceding  reigns.  At  first  this 
policy  was  not  altogether  apparent,  and  it  is  possible  that  it 
was  not  definitely  decided  upon.  Those  who  know  the 
Turkish  Empire,  know  how  many  things  goby  default;  how 
one  movement  leads  to  another,  and  the  result  is  a  situation 
not  recognized  and  not  planned  for  at  the  beginning,  but 
which  becomes,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  settled,  definite  policy. 
In  this  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  Sultan  himself 
laid  down  the  definite  rules.  Unquestionably  a  large  part  of 
it  was  due  to  the  same  influences  that  deposed  Haireddin,  the 
local  officials  both  in  Constantinople  and  the  provinces. 
That  this  was  true  was  evident  in  many  ways.  Decisions 
would  be  secured  from  the  officers  of  the  Porte,  orders  would 
be  sent  to  the  provinces  with  regard  to  various  matters,  and 
the  reply  would  come  after  awhile  that  the  orders  had  not 


330 


THE  ARMENIAN  QUESTION. 


been  carried  out,  and  investigation  would  make  manifest  the 
fact  that  at  the  same  time  that  these  orders  had  been  given, 
counter  orders  had  been  sent  to  the  same  official  in  a  private 
way,  absolutely  annulling  the  general  orders.  The  situation 
thus  became  increasingly  difficult,  when,  after  ten  years  or  so, 
the  Armenian  question  began  to  assume  special  prominence. 

The  Armenian  question,  as  such,  began  with  the  treaty  of 
Berlin.  Previous  to  that  there  had  been  other  questions :  the 
Greek  question,  the  Bulgarian  question — the  former  resulting 
in  the  independence  of  Greece,  and  the  latter  in  the  independ¬ 
ence  of  Bulgaria.  Throughout  Asiatic  Turkey  there  had 
been  no  distinctive  question  of  any  sort ;  Armenians,  Greeks, 
Jacobites,  all  had  suffered  alike  under  the  general  oppression. 
With  the  treaty  of  Paris,  however,  there  began  an  increasing 
manifestation  of  the  power  of  Russia  in  the  protection  of 
Greeks  throughout  the  empire.  The  Armenians  had  had  no 
special  patron,  but  as  they  increased  in  wealth  and  in  general 
prosperity,  and  also  in  education,  learning  more  of  their 
ancient  history,  it  was  natural  that  there  should  develop  among 
them  the  idea  of  a  renewed  national  life.  The  growth  of  this 
has  already  been  described  in  general  in  the  chapter  oh  the 
Armenians ;  so  also  reference  has  been  made  to  the  various 
influences  that  were  at  work  in  forming  this  national  move¬ 
ment.  Here  we  dwell  more  especially  upon  the  political  side 
of  that  movement.  Those  who  have  followed  the  very  brief 
summary  that  has  been  given  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  the 
political  intrigues  and  influences,  operating  throughout  the 
eighteenth  and  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries,  will  see 
how  constant  was  the  influence  of  Russia,  exercised  first 
arnone  the  Greeks  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  then 
in  the  various  Danubian  Provinces  and  finally  in  Bulgaria ; 


RUSSIAN  INFLUENCE. 


331 


always  they  had  for  their  purpose  the  stirring  of  hostility  be¬ 
tween  Turks  and  Christians,  and  the  enkindling  of  a  feeling 
of  dependence  upon  Russia  as  the  only  Power  that  could  se¬ 
cure  for  them  such  national  development  as  they  desired. 
The  same  thing  became  manifest  after  a  few  years  among  the 
Armenians.  The  Pan-Slavist  committee  that  had  really  fanned 
into  flame  the  embers  of  hostility  to  the  Turks  in  the  Balkan 
Peninsula,  with  a  view  to  the  incorporation  of  those  Slavic 
races  with  the  Russians  into  a  great  Slavic  empire,  hardly 
found  a  congenial  field  among  the  Armenians.  These  latter 
are  of  different  race  and  schismatics  in  religion  and  are 
looked  upon  by  the  Slavs  everywhere  as  having  no  particular 
relations  to  themselves.  They  could  form  no  integral  part  of 
the  grand  scheme,  and  there  was  no  such  feeling  of  sympathy 
for  them  as  was  distinctly  manifest  toward  the  Bulgarians, 
Servians,  and  others.  Still  the  Russians  never  gave  up  their 
idea  of  an  empire  that  should  take  in  the  whole  of  the  Eastern 
Roman  world,  and  replace  the  crescent  by  the  cross  on  the 
dome  of  St.  Sophia.  Crippled  even  by  their  victory  in  the 
Russo-Turkish  war,  with  great  problems  of  internal  adminis¬ 
tration  staring  them  in  the  face,  with  opportunities  opening  in 
the  far  East  and  on  the  very  borders  of  India,  Turkey  assumed 
for  the  time  being  a  somewhat  minor  position  in  Russian  dip¬ 
lomatic  plans.  At  the  same  time  it  was  never  entirely  out  of 
sight,  and  there  became  manifest,  before  many  years  had  passed 
by,  the  indications  of  another  current  of  influence  spreading 
from  the  Armenians  of  the  Caucasus  throughout  the  whole  of 
Turkey.  Whether  these  embassies  were  directly  in  the  employ 
of  a  Russian  organization  or  not,  it  is  probably  impossible  to 
say ;  it  may  be  that  they  were  simply  in  sympathy  with  the 
desire  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter  of  establishing  an 


332 


TREATY  OF  BERLIN. 


Armenia  again  in  the  ancestral  region  extending  from  Ararat 
on  the  north  to  Van  on  the  south.  But  whatever  the  imme¬ 
diate  connection  may  have  been,  the  fact  remains  that  Russian- 
Armenian  influences  began  to  make  themselves  manifest  with¬ 
in  not  many  years  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  Berlin, 
especially  in  certain  sections.  They  found  indeed  very  fer¬ 
tile  soil  in  which  to  work.  The  two  clauses  of  the  treaty  of 
Berlin  to  which  the  Armenians  looked  as  furnishing  them  the 
hope  of  a  better  national  life  were  the  6ist  and  62d  articles, 
which  read  as  follows : 

“Art.  61.  The  Sublime  Porte  engages  to  realize  without  de¬ 
lay  those  ameliorations  and  reforms  which  local  needs  require 
in  the  provinces  inhabited  by  the  Armenians,  and  guarantees 
their  security  against  the  Circassians  and  the  Kurds.  It 
undertakes  to  make  known,  from  time  to  time,  the  measures 
taken  with  this  object  to  the  Powers,  who  will  watch  over 
their  application. 

“Art.  62.  The  Sublime  Porte  having  expressed  its  willing¬ 
ness  to  maintain  the  principle  of  religious  liberty,  and  to  give 
it  the  widest  sphere,  the  contracting  parties  take  cognizance 
of  this  spontaneous  declaration.  In  every  part  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire  difference  of  religion  should  not  be  held  as  a  motive 
of  exclusion  or  unfitness  in  anything  that  relates  to  the  use 
of  civil  and  political  rights,  admission  to  public  offices,  duties, 
and  honors,  and  the  exercise  of  all  professions  and  industries, 
in  whatever  locality  it  may  be.  All  should  be  admitted  before 
the  tribunals,  the  exercise  and  external  practice  of  all  religions 
should  be  entirely  free,  and  no  impediment  should  be  offered 
either  to  the  hierarchical  organization  of  the  different  com¬ 
munions  or  to  their  spiritual  chiefs  ;  ecclesiastics,  pilgrims,  and 
monks  of  all  nationalities  traveling  in  European  and  Asiatic 


ARMENIAN  AUTONOMY. 


333 


Turkey  shall  enjoy  the  same  rights,  advantages,  and  privileges. 
The  right  of  official  protection  is  accorded  to  the  diplomatic 
and  consular  agents  of  the  Powers  in  Turkey,  no  less  with 
regard  to  the  persons  above  mentioned,  with  their  religious 
and  charitable  establishments,  than  to  others  in  the  Holy 
Places  and  elsewhere.  The  rights  conceded  to  France  are 
expressly  reserved,  it  being  well  understood  that  the  status 
quo  with  respect  to  the  Holy  Places  shall  not  be  seriously 
affected  in  any  way.  The  monks  of  Mount  Athos,  whatever 
their  nationality,  shall  be  maintained  in  possession  of  their 
possessions  and  previous  advantages,  and  shall  enjoy  without 
exception  full  equality  of  rights  and  prerogatives.” 

The  most  cursory  reading  of  these  in  the  light  of  the  suc¬ 
ceeding  years  shows  how  completely  the  Turkish  Government 
had  failed  to  carry  out  any  one  of  the  different  promises  made 
in  these  articles,  especially  in  that  with  regard  to  the  Arme¬ 
nians.  It  was,  perhaps,  not  unnatural  that  the  first  idea  of 
those  who  plead  the  Armenian  cause  at  Berlin  should  have 
been  to  secure  an  autonomous  province.  They  had  seen 
Bulgaria  developed;  they  had  seen  also  the  growth  of 
Rumania,  of  Greece  and  of  Servia  into  kingdoms,  and  many 
of  them  could  not  understand  why  there  might  not  be  an 
Armenia.  They  looked  upon  the  whole  section  extending 
south  from  the  east  end  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  including  Van, 
as  their  ancestral  property.  Whatever  there  was  there  of 
Kurdish  or  Turkish  occupation  was  really  usurpation,  and 
they  felt  that  if  the  Powers  of  Europe  would  simply  support 
them,  they  could  assert  their  right  and  overpower  these  in¬ 
truders.  But  even  if  there  were  not  a  distinct  national  prov¬ 
ince,  they  had  seen  the  success  of  the  plan  developed  in  Syria, 
In  the  province  of  the  Lebanon  there  were  Moslems  in  great 


334 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  LEADERS. 


numbers;  nevertheless  a  Christian  governor  had  been  granted, 
and  there  had  been  for  fifteen  years  such  peace  and  prosperity 
as  had  not  been  known  for  centuries.  At  least  this  much 
might  be  secured  to  them.  They,  however,  took  the  position 
that  they  would  get  in  proportion  as  they  asked ;  hence  they 
asked  for  the  greatest  that  could  be  given,  with  the  expecta¬ 
tion  probably,  at  least  on  the  part  of  the  better  informed,  of 
securing  not  that,  but  something  less,  which  should  be  after 
all  a  great  advance  on  the  condition  at  that  time. 

o 

As,  however,  the  general  discussion  of  the  question  came 
up  more  and  more  prominently,  the  Armenian  leaders  began 
to  see  that  there  was  a  very  widespread  feeling  that  the 
Armenian  nation  was  not  equal  to  the  position  which  they 
claimed  for  themselves.  To  begin  with,  they  were  a  distinct 
minority  in  the  very  country  that  they  desired  to  own  ;  more¬ 
over  the  inhabitants  of  that  section  were  in  a  considerable 
degree  of  the  more  ignorant  classes.  They  were  rude  in 
their  speech,  uncultured  in  their  manners,  ignorant  of  almost 
all  that  pertains  to  national  life.  True,  this  was  not  their 
fault;  it  was  rather  a  misfortune  due  to  centuries  of  oppres¬ 
sion.  Still,  there  was  the  fact.  Moreover,  there  was  no 
organization  that  bound  all  the  Armenians  together.  They 

o 

were  scattered  communities  with  no  bond  of  union,  except 
their  language  and  their  church  creed.  These  communities 
were  ignorant  of  each  other  and  jealous  of  each  others  pros¬ 
perity.  The  first  thing,  therefore,  apparently  that  presented 
itself  to  the  minds  of  the  leaders  was  a  general  propaganda 
throughout  the  Armenians  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  with  a 
view  to  developing  the  national  idea,  and  also  with  a  view 
toward  some  form  of  organization,  so  that  when  the  time  for 
action  came,  they  would  be  in  a  degree  united.  This  was 


EDUCATION. 


335 


undoubtedly  the  chief  purpose  of  such  men  as  Minas  Tcheraz, 
who  was  at  Berlin,  and  of  the  wisest  men  among  the  leaders. 
They  understood  the  situation,  and  set  themselves  to  accom¬ 
plishing  what  they  could.  Had  the  movement  remained  in 
their  hands,  there  is  little  probability  but  that  the  ultimate 
result,  if  not  in  accord  with  their  highest  ambition,  would  have 
been  a  better  condition  than  the  present.  Here,  however, 
appeared  another  phase. 

There  is  in  every  nation  a  certain  element  of  the  heedless 
and  reckless,  seeing  only  the  end  to  be  gained,  and  impatient 
of  the  best  means  of  reaching  that  end.  Scattered  through- 
out  Europe  were  a  number  of  Armenians  who,  having  im¬ 
bibed  the  free-thought  ideas  developed  in  the  French  Rev¬ 
olution,  and  fired  by  the  experiences  of  1848,  were  utterly 
impatient  of  the  slower  process  of  education.  They  were 
hot-headed  and  ambitious  rather  for  themselves  than  for  the 
nation,  and  they  pointed  to  the  experiences  of  Bulgaria  and 
of  the  Greeks.  They  claimed  that  this  slower  process  of 
education  was  all  very  well,  but  it  would  accomplish  nothing. 
It  might  go  on  for  generations  without  securing  any  definite 
national  life.  They  pointed  out  that  the  European  nations 
would  never  interfere  except  for  their  own  interests ;  that 
England,  France,  and  Europe  generally,  had  cared  nothing 
for  the  Bulgarian  troubles  until  the  massacres  compelled  in¬ 
terference  in  order  to  prevent  Russia  from  overpowering 
themselves.  From  this  the  argument  was  easy  that  the 
Armenians  could  accomplish  nothing  unless  the  European 
Governments  saw  that  there  was  such  a  state  of  anarchy 
throughout  Asiatic  Turkey  as  would  compel  their  interference 
in  order  to  prevent  the  general  collapse,  which  every  one 
feared  would  be  the  result  of  a  widespread  European  war. 

20 


336 


THE  HUNTCHAGISTS. 


Their  argument  was  simply,  “  These  European  Governments, 
especially  England,  will  never  help  Armenians  practically 
until  they  see  that  they  have  got  to  help  them  in  order  to 
save  themselves  from  great  danger;  the  only  way  to  secure 
this  is  to  stir  the  Turkish  Government  just  as  it  was  stirred  in 
Bulgaria,  and  secure  some  kind  of  atrocities  that  shall  focus 
the  attention  of  the  Christian  world  upon  the  Turkish  Empire.” 
This  general  argument  was  reinforced  by  the  presence  among 
the  Armenians  of  the  Nihilistic  tendencies  developed  in 
^  Russia. 

The  result  was  the  formation  of  a  revolutionary  society 
called  the  Huntchagists.  Just  where  it  was  formed,  just 
who  were  its  members,  and  just  where  and  how  it  operated, 
is  not  yet  definitely  evident.  Contemporary  history  is  seldom 
if  ever  complete.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  in  Athens,  Mar¬ 
seilles  and  London  there  were  coteries  of  Armenians  who 
made  it  their  business  to  stir  strife  throughout  the  nation. 
They  sent  emissaries  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
Turkish  Empire.  These  met  with  the  younger,  more  ad¬ 
venturous  and  less  scrupulous  element  to  be  found  in  every 
nation,  and  commenced  a  general  propaganda.  Where  there 
was  oppression,  that  oppression  was  made  the  most  of  in  pub¬ 
lic  prints ;  stories  of  the  most  atrocious  type  were  told.  The 
Turkish  rule  was  bad  enough,  but  it  was  made  to  appear  in¬ 
finitely  worse  than  it  was  by  these  men.  But  they  found 
that  this  was  not  sufficient.  They  became  apparently  exas¬ 
perated  by  their  failure  to  rouse  their  own  people  to  the 
pitch  of  excitement  which  they  deemed  essential  in  order  to 
accomplish  their  purpose.  Hence  they  commenced  attacks 
of  one  kind  and  another,  not  merely  upon  the  Moslems,  but 
upon  their  fellow-countrymen  who  did  not  support  them. 


PLACARDS. 


337 


Threats  were  allowed  to  be  heard  of  what  the  Armenians 
would  do  to  anybody  and  everybody  they  did  not  like.  It 
was  inevitable  that  these  should  be  heard  ;  it  was  intended 
that  they  should  be  heard.  Turkish  governors  were  on  the 
watch.  One  of  the  shrewdest  of  the  provincial  governors,  a 
man  whose  general  conduct  of  his  office  was  by  no  means  of 
the  harshest,  had  the  cannon  of  his  capital  trained  upon  an 
Armenian  church  because  of  the  stories  that  came  to  him  of 
the  threats  of  these  men.  Then  came  the  widespread  use 
of  revolutionary  placards.  Apparently  they  were  posted  by 
the  Turks  themselves,  but  whether  this  was  true  or  not 
seemed  uncertain.  Naturally  the  Turkish  officials  began  to 
exercise  harshness.  They  felt  that  they  were  fighting  some 
unseen  foe  and  the  results  appeared  in  the  form  of  arbitrary 
arrests  and  the  most  cruel  punishments.  Just  when  this 
general  work  commenced  it  seems  to  be  impossible  to  say. 
Within  ten  years  after  the  treaty  of  Berlin  there  were  signs 
of  the  existence  of  this  influence,  but  the  most  marked  indi¬ 
cations  were  manifest  in  1892,  coming  to  a  head  in  the  early 
part  of  1893. 

About  this  time  the  revolutionists,  whether  members  of  the 
Huntchagist  party  or  not,  seemed  to  have  come  to  the  con¬ 
viction  that  there  must  be  some  overt  act  that  should  ac¬ 
complish  what  they  had  in  view — the  focusing  of  the  attention 
of  Europe  upon  themselves.  They  seemed  at  first  to  be  at 
somewhat  of  a  loss  as  to  the  best  method  of  doing-  this. 

o 

Finally,  under  just  what  influences  is  not  evident,  they  gath¬ 
ered,  especially  in  the  region  of  Marsovan  and  Yuzgat,  and 
placards  began  to  appear,  sometimes  on  public  buildings, 
sometimes  on  the  walls  of  houses.  On  the  night  of  the  5th 
of  January,  1893,  scores,  even  hundreds  of  these  placards, 


338 


AMERICANS  THREATENED. 


were  posted  in  many  places,  all  of  a  seditious  character, 
rousing  opposition  against  the  government.  Two  were  found 
affixed  to  the  outer  gate  of  the  premises  of  the  American 
Board  missionaries  at  Marsovan,  but  before  the  paste  upon 
them  was  dry  they  were  pulled  down  by  persons  belonging 
to  the  college,  who  were  passing  through  the  gates.  These 
placards  were  addressed  to  the  Turks  and  full  of  denuncia¬ 
tion  of  the  government  for  its  oppression  and  general  cor- 
ruption.  Within  ten  days  arrests  began  to  be  made.  The 
chief  of  police  was  given  full  authority  to  investigate  the 
matter,  but  his  previous  record  and  subsequent  conduct 
showed  him  to  be  utterly  unfit  for  the  work.  He  was 
brutal,  utterly  regardless  of  law  and  simply  bent  upon 
wreaking  personal  vengeance  wherever  possible. 

Just  what  the  object  was  in  endeavoring  to  identify  the 

American  buildings  with  this  movement,  it  is  not  difficult  to 

<_> 

see.  Americans  are  almost  the  only  foreigners  dwelling  in 
the  interior  of  Turkey.  They  are  under  peculiar  protection 
by  treaty  rights.  They  are  well  known  over  the  world,  and 
throughout  the  whole  period  of  their  residence  in  Turkey 
have  identified  themselves  very  closely  with  the  efforts  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  people.  Anything  that  could 
identify  them  with  anti-government  manifestations  would  call 
down  upon  them  the  hostility  of  the  government.  That  would 
result  in  damage  of  some  sort,  and  this  would  call  the  atten- 
tion  of  the  foreign  governments,  which  it  was  hoped  would 
accomplish  the  end  in  view.  With  this  it  is  entirely  possible 
that  there  may  have  been  personal  bitter  feeling.  Not  a  few 
Armenians  have  felt  that  the  missionaries  were  undermining 
their  national  life  by  their  opposition  to  ecclesiastical  formal¬ 
ism,  and  in  their  attacks  on  atheism  and  infidelity  they  were 


DISTURBANCE  IN  MARSOVAN. 


339 


charged  by  many  with  hindering  the  progress  of  free  thought. 
Whatever  the  immediate  purpose,  this  much  was  accomplished, 
that  the  attention  of  the  Turkish  Government  was  directed 
very  forcibly  to  the  missionaries.  The  chief  of  police,  who 
perhaps  had  his  own  reasons  for  hostilities  to  the  Americans, 
took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  threaten  both  the  college 
and  its  teachers,  charging  the  institution  with  being  a  source 
of  sedition  and  affirming  that  the  placards  were  issued  from 
Anatolia  College,  since  they  were  written  by  a  cyclostyle  such 
as  the  missionaries  used.  It  was  also  reported  throughout 
the  city  that  the  buildings  were  to  be  burned,  and  that  high 
officials  had  declared  that  the  college  site  should  be  a  plowed 
field.  In  less  than  two  weeks  the  senior  Armenian  professor 
of  the  college,  Mr.  Thoumaian,  and  a  little  later  another 
member  of  the  faculty,  Professor  Kayayan,  were  arrested  and 
imprisoned,  and  every  request  to  see  them  or  to  give  bail  for 
them  was  refused.  There  was  not  the  slightest  evidence  that 
they  had  had  anything  to  do  with  the  issuing  of  the  placards, 
and  the  whole  charge  seems  to  have  been  made  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  furnishing  a  basis  for  an  attack  upon  the  college. 

On  the  night  of  February  ist,  one  of  the  buildings  which 
was  in  process  of  erection  for  the  girls’  school  was  set  on  fire. 
The  presence  of  soldiers  and  officials  near  the  building  before 
alarm  could  possibly  have  been  given,  indicated  their  connec¬ 
tion  with  it,  but  the  charge  was  immediately  made  that  the 
college  authorities  themselves  had  fired  the  building  either 
to  excite  revolt  among  the  Armenians  or  conceal  the  presence 
of  arms  and  ammunition.  These  charges  were  sent  on  to  Con- 
stantinople  and  the  animus  of  the  government  is  shown  in 
its  appointment  of  the  same  local  officials,  notoriously  corrupt, 
and  who  were  known  to  have  threatened  the  college,  for  the 


340 


TRIALS  AND  TORTURE. 


conduct  of  the  examination.  There  was  general  disturbance 
throughout  the  whole  region,  with  outbreaks  in  a  number  of 
places:  Yuzgat,  Gemerek,  Cesarea,  and  elsewhere.  Large 
numbers  of  arrests  were  made  until  certainly  between  two  and 
three  hundred  Armenians,  against  whom  no  charge  could  be 
found,  were  imprisoned.  The  professors  were  not  released 
even  on  bail  and  there  was  great  excitement  throughout  the 
region. 

o 

Throughout  the  summer  of  1893  the  excitement  continued 
to  increase.  Commissions  were  appointed  to  try  these  men 
in  prison.  At  the  trials,  torture  of  the  most  atrocious  kind 
was  used  to  extort  confession  of  guilt  and  charges  against 

0  o  o 

prominent  men.  Very  little,  however,  was  learned,  and  at 
last  most  of  those  arrested  were  released,  though  many  were 
transferred  to  the  different  fortresses  at  the  Island  of 
Rhodes,  near  Mersine,  and  at  St.  Jean  d’  Acre  in  Syria. 
Among  these  were  some  Protestant  pastors  who  had  had  no 
share  whatever  in  the  disturbance,  but  were  looked  upon 
with  suspicion  by  the  Turkish  Government  for  their  liberal 
ideas.  The  professors  were  put  on  trial.  No  proof  what¬ 
ever  was  found  against  them,  and  at  last,  on  special  protest 
by  the  English  Government,  they  were  released  on  condition 
of  leaving  the  country.  One  feature  in  the  investigations 
was  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  documents,  apparently 
in  the  hand-writing  of  some  of  the  arrested  men.  It 
appeared,  however,  on  investigation,  that  there  were  a  laro-e 
number  of  forgeries,  one  of  the  American  missionaries  find¬ 
ing  his  own  name  signed  to  some  papers.  The  question  of 
the  burning  of  the  school  building  was  taken  up  earnestly  by 
the  American  Government  and  indemnity  was  secured  from 
Turkey,  together  with  a  permit  to  rebuild. 


AMERICAN  CITIZENS. 


341 


In  one  sense  the  revolutionists  had  achieved  their  purpose. 
They  had  attracted  attention,  and  it  had  become  very  evident 
to  Europe  that  matters  in  Turkey  were  going  from  bad  to 
worse.  The  great  activity  of  the  Turkish  Government,  how¬ 
ever,  made  their  position  in  Turkey  quite  difficult.  They 
appeared  less  and  less  in  the  country  itself  for  some  time, 
but  took  their  station  outside,  and  through  Europe  and  even 
in  this  country  they  made  general  charges  against  the  Turkish 
Government  and  gathered  funds  to  continue  from  a  safe  posi¬ 
tion  the  general  propaganda  which  had  been  started  in 
Turkey.  At  this  point  a  new  phase  of  their  work  appeared. 
For  some  time  there  had  been  considerable  effort  on  the 
part  of  Armenians  to  secure  American  citizenship,  return  to 
Turkey  and  demand  the  same  protection  at  the  hands  of  the 
Turkish  Government  that  was  accorded  to  native-born 
American  citizens.  The  diplomatic  relations  of  this  will  be 
referred  to  in  another  chapter  on  the  relations  between 
America  and  Turkey.  In  some  respects  they  were  able  thus 
to  accomplish  a  good  deal,  but  some  serious  difficulties  arose. 
Individuals  claiming  American  protection  were  charged  by 
the  Turkish  Government  with  exerting  seditious  influence, 
and  complaints  were  made  to  the  United  States  Government 
with  regard  to  it.  The  position  was  taken  by  this  govern¬ 
ment  that  it  could  not  force  upon  the  Turkish  Government 
the  continued  presence  of  its  own  citizens  who  were  not 
desired  by  that  government.  This  aroused  a  great  cry  and 
increasing  efforts  were  made  to  secure  at  the  hands  of  this 
government  complete  protection.  The  chief  effect,  however, 
was  to  direct  attention  more  than  ever  to  their  work,  and 
letters  appeared  from  different  parts  of  Turkey  protesting 
against  the  influences  that  went  forth  from  these  revolu- 


342 


EXTENT  OF  REVOLUTION. 


tionary  committees,  taking  the  ground  that  they  were  having 
simply  the  effect  of  arousing  the  hostility  of  the  Turkish 
officials,  while  they  were  accomplishing  no  good  purpose. 

As  has  already  been  said,  the  extent  of  this  revolutionary 
movement  it  is  impossible  to  state  accurately.  The  members 
of  the  committees  are  not  known  ;  how  widely  their  move¬ 
ment  had  received,  if  not  the  absolute  indorsement,  at  least 
the  sympathy  of  their  own  people,  is  also  very  uncertain. 
This  much,  however,  is  unquestionable,  that  while  individuals 
in  various  parts  of  the  empire  did  have  this  sympathy  with 
the  revolutionary  idea,  there  were  very  few  indeed  who 
carried  it  to  the  extreme  favored  by  the  committee.  Occasion¬ 
ally  a  man  would  be  found  who  would  say,  as  one  did  to  one 
of  the  missionaries,  “  If  I  had  my  way  I  would  kill  you 
immediately.  That  would  bring  the  whole  matter  to  a  crisis, 
and  it  would  be  the  best  thing  for  us.”  But  this  was  entirely 
repugnant  to  most  of  those  who  favored  overt  action,  and  the 
great  majority  of  Armenians  in  every  portion  of  the  empire 
not  only  had  no  share  in  the  plans,  but  where  they  knew  of 
them,  bitterly  opposed  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
revolutionary  movement  has  never  been  a  national  move¬ 
ment.  It  has  represented  individual  ideas,  and  while  those 
individuals  were  to  a  degree  numerous,  especially  in  certain 
sections,  they  have  never  represented  the  great  mass  of  the 
people.  The  influence  of  the  American  missionaries,  the 
influence  of  the  Armenian  ecclesiastics  and  of  the  better 
informed  in  the  nation,  was  strongly  against  any  such  attempt. 
All  knew  that  it  was  madness.  The  facts,  that  the  Armenians 
were  so  scattered  throughout  the  empire,  that  they  were 
untrained  in  the  use  of  arms,  that  so  little  organization  was 
possible  among  them,  all  combined  to  make  the  movement  a 


YOUNG  TURKEY  PARTY. 


3  43 


most  atrocious  wrong  to  the  people.  At  the  same  time  it 
had  its  effect  upon  the  Turks,  both  government  and  people. 
The  appearance  of  the  placards  was  attended  to  a  considerable 
degree  by  talk  among  the  people,  which  spread  until  there 
became  a  widely  extended  feeling  that  there  was  a  revolution 
impending,  and  the  Turks  in  many  places  really  felt  afraid  of 
the  influence  that  might  be  exerted  through  the  Christian 
population.  In  some  places  this  amounted  to  panic,  and  there 
were  not  a  few  cases  during  1893  and  in  the  early  part  of 
1894,  when  Turkish  officials  had  all  they  could  do  to  restrain 
the  hostile  manifestations  of  the  Moslem  communities. 
Another  effect  was  that  it  gave  force  to  the  arguments  of  the 
reactionary  Turks,  who  claimed  that  all  this  yielding  to  the 
desires  of  the  Christians  was  nonsense,  and  that  the  only 
thing  for  the  Sultan  to  do  was  to  set  himself  deliberately 
against  them  and  to  make  it  very  clear  that  in  Turkey  the 
Turk  ruled  and  Islam  would  brook  no  rival. 

In  this  immediate  connection  mention  should  be  made  of 
an  undoubted  fact.  The  elements  among  the  Turks  repre¬ 
sented  by  Haireddin  -  Pasha,  called  variously  the  Party  of 
Progress,  or  the  Young  Turkey  Party,  were  at  the  same  time 
carrying  on  a  certain  propaganda,  to  what  extent  it  is  impos¬ 
sible  to  say.  Their  leaders,  among  them  Midhat  Pasha,  and 
those  who  had  been  associated  with  him,  had  been  exiled  and 
put  to  death.  They  themselves  had  been  scattered  in  one 
way  or  another  over  the  empire.  Constantinople,  and  indeed 
all  Europe,  was  aroused  by  the  story  of  a  number  of  young 
Turks  who  came  from  an  interior  city  to  Constantinople,  were 
seen  upon  the  steamer,  and  then  disappeared  from  view. 
Whither  they  went  no  one  could  tell.  Afterwards  individuals 
appeared  claiming  to  be  members  of  that  company  and  saying 


344 


FAILURE  OF  HUNTCHAGISTS. 


that  they  had  been  arrested  and  sent  into  exile  only  to  return 
with  great  difficulty.  There  was  a  general  feeling  that  revo¬ 
lution  was  in  the  air.  The  Huntchagists  represented  the 
Armenian  phase  of  it;  the  Young  Turkey  Party  the  Moslem 
phase  of  it.  Each  probably  helped  the  other ;  each  laid  upon 
the  other  the  responsibility  for  certain  acts  aimed  against 
the  government.  The  Armenians  said  that  the  placards  at 
Marsovan,  etc.,  were  posted  by  the  Turks  ;  the  Turks  retorted 
the  charge  upon  the  Armenians.  Just  where  the  truth  is,  it 
will  probably  be  some  years  before  it  is  possible  to  state  with 
accuracy. 

In  the  events  that  followed  the  massacres  at  Sassun,  Con¬ 
stantinople,  Erzrum,  etc.,  the  traces  of  Huntchagists  are 
apparent  in  some ;  absolutely  wanting  in  others.  Since  then 
the  party  seems  to  have  disappeared  from  view.  Nothing  is 
heard  of  it;  nothing  said  about  it.  If  it  exists,  it  is  hiding 
itself,  partly,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  in  shame  and  remorse  for 
the  cruelties  that  have  at  least  in  good  measure  resulted  from 
its  folly,  partly  because  its  schemes  have  been  brought  abso¬ 
lutely  to  naught  by  the  dominating  power  of  Russia.  They 
started  out  for  an  autonomous  Armenia.  They  failed  abso* 
lutely  of  securing  even  a  moderate  reform  in  the  condition 
of  their  people.  Conceived  in  conceit,  in  treachery  and  in 

falsehood,  its  fruit  has  been  ruin  and  misery  of  the  worst 
type. 


G  /  ^ 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


General  Situation  in  1894. 


Terrible  Oppression — Exaggerated  Reports — Truth  Stranger  Than  Fiction— Religious 
Liberty  Infringed  Upon — Oppressive  School  Laws — Rigorous  Censorship — General 
Effort  of  the  Government  to  Suppress  Christian  Development. 


HE  situation  in  the  summer  of  1894  throughout  the 


JL  empire  was  one  bordering  on  anarchy.  From  every 
section  of  the  country  came  word  of  the  most  atrocious  treat¬ 
ment  by  the  Turkish  Government  of  its  Christian  subjects. 
Taxes  were  imposed  in  a  way  that  in  the  already  impoverished 
condition  of  the  country  was  simply  ruinous.  The  effect  of 
the  action  of  the  revolutionists  in  Marsovan  had  been  to  arouse 
very  bitter  feeling  against  them  on  every  hand  and  to  create 
an  impression,  even  among  those  favorable  to  the  nation,  that 
they  were  chiefly  responsible  for  the  situation.  At  the  same 
time  reports  were  sent  to  the  European  papers  of  the  most 
thrilling  type.  Some  of  these  were  true,  most  were  based 
upon  truth,  but  there  was  not  a  little  exaggeration  in  details. 

Great  excitement  was  aroused  by  the  publication  in  the 
English  papers  of  a  detailed  statement  furnished  by  the 
Vienna  correspondent  of  the  Daily  News  as  to  the  treatment 
of  Armenian  prisoners  in  Central  Asia  Minor.  According  to 
this,  hundreds  of  them  were  cast  into  prison,  stripped  of 
their  clothes  and  tortured  in  the  most  diabolical  manner. 


(345) 


346 


ATROCITIES. 


While  men  were  beaten,  women  were  outraged  in  the  presence 
of  their  husbands  and  fathers,  and  general  atrocities  com¬ 
mitted  that  surpassed  in  horror  those  of  the  invasions  of  the 
Goths  and  Huns.  Careful  investigation  showed  that  while 
these  charges  were  in  some  sense  correct,  the  impression  made 
by  them  in  general  was  often  false.  In  one  case  the  hundreds 
dwindled  to  twenty-eight,  and  while  there  was  outrage  enough 
to  stir  the  indignation  of  every  righteous  man,  there  was 
exaggeration  enough  to  enable  the  Turkish  Government  to 
represent  that  these  stories  were  based  upon  a  general  desire 
to  create  trouble.  Instances  innumerable  might  be  given  of 
the  methods  adopted  with  regard  to  individuals.  A  few  must 
suffice.  An  intelligent  Armenian  physician  had  been  practic¬ 
ing  for  some  years  in  one  of  the  cities  in  Central  Asia  Minor. 
He  had  a  good  reputation,  and  both  Greeks  and  Turks  as 
well  as  Armenians  patronized  him  and  urged  him  to  accept 
the  office  of  city  physician.  With  some  reluctance  he  yielded. 
A  petition  was  sent  to  Constantinople  and  he  was  appointed. 
He  found  the  drinking  water  of  the  city  polluted  by  the  prox¬ 
imity  of  slaughter-houses  and  water  closets  to  the  water  course. 
He  reported  the  case  to  the  local  government  in  accordance 
with  his  duty  as  health  officer.  As  nothing  was  done  by  them 
he  appealed  to  the  Governor-General  of  the  province,  but 
without  any  result.  Then,  following  out  strict  orders  from 
Constantinople  with  regard  to  the  prevention  of  cholera,  he 
reported  to  the  health  department  at  Constantinople  and  the 
headquarters  of  the  army  corps  of  the  district.  The  Governor- 
General  thereupon  received  a  reprimand,  and  in  great  anger 
summoned  the  physician  to  the  capital  of  the  province.  A 
request  to  go  to  his  home  for  warmer  clothing,  for  it  was  in 
mid-winter,  was  met  with  stern  refusal,  and  a  police  force  of 


HOMELESS. 


347 


twenty  men  with  an  officer  at  their  head  dragged  him  through 
the  markets  and  the  streets  for  more  than  half  a  mile,  to  the 
outskirts  of  the  city,  where  he  lay  for  half  an  hour  unconscious. 
When  he  recovered  he  was  placed  upon  a  horse,  but  he  could 
not  sit  up,  and  was  tied  to  his  back.  The  governor,  in  great 
rage,  said  that  he  should  not  be  allowed  to  live  in  the  province 
at  all.  Requests  of  people  from  another  city  that  he  come 
there,  were  not  granted. 

As  another  illustration,  a  photographer  of  one  city  pre¬ 
sented  the  usual  charge  for  some  pictures  made  on  the  order 
of  an  official.  The  governor  summoned  him,  and  roared  out, 
“Are  not  you  one  of  those  local  Armenians  that  I  can  make 
rot  ?  ”  So  terrified  was  the  poor  man  that  he  was  glad  to 
slink  away  and  say  nothing  about  pay. 

These  are  but  illustrations  of  what  was  done  over  the  whole 
empire  by  the  order  of  high  officials,  until  there  became  a 
veritable  reign  of  terror,  and  no  man  felt  his  life  or  property, 
or  the  honor  of  his  wife  and  daughter  safe,  in  any  interior  city, 
town  or  village.  Perhaps,  however,  the  most  forcible  setting 
forth  of  the  situation  is  found  in  a  statement  not  in  regard  to 
the  ordinary  brutality  of  officials,  or  the  rapacity  of  Kurds. 
It  had  become  more  and  more  evident  that  there  was  a  gen¬ 
eral  plan  of  the  government  to  intensify  by  its  oppression,  as 
much  as  possible,  the  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians  of  their  absolute  subordination  to  Moslems.  In  response 
to  a  special  request  from  the  British  ambassador,  a  statement 
was  drawn  up  by  persons  thoroughly  well-posted  in  regard  to 
the  general  condition,  and  from  that  statement  are  taken  in 
considerable  degree  the  facts  that  follow. 

One  of  the  glories  of  the  administration  of  Abdul  Medjid 
was  the  Hatti  Humayoun  of  1856,  the  charter  of  liberty  and 


348 


DISPLACING  CHRISTIANS. 


equality  to  the  Christians  of  Turkey.  This  has  already  been 
referred  to  in  preceding  chapters,  and  needs  no  further 
description  here,  except  to  recall  the  statement  that  its  aim 
was  the  carrying  into  effect  of  the  principle  of  equality 
between  the  Mussulmans  and  non-Mussulmans  of  the  empire. 
During  the  remainder  of  the  reign  of  Abdul  Medjid,  and  to  a 
considerable  extent  during  that  of  Abdul  Aziz,  this  principle 
had  been  followed. 

Soon  after  the  treaty  of  Berlin,  however,  there  became 
manifest  a  tendency  to  displace  Christians  by  Moslems  in 
responsible  posts  in  every  department  of  government  in 
Asiatic  Turkey.  Some  still  remained,  for  the  reason  that  there 
were  practically  no  Moslems  competent  to  fill  the  positions. 
Administrative  offices  were  even  still  to  some  extent  occupied 
by  Armenians  or  Greeks,  but  their  number  had  been  increas¬ 
ingly  small.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  1894, 
there  was  in  the  Council  of  State,  to  which  the  administration 
of  the  interior  provinces  belongs,  but  one  Christian  member, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  measures  affecting  the  vital 
interests  of  the  Christian  population  were  daily  subjects  for 
consideration.  So  also  the  High  Council  of  the  Ministry  of 
Public  Instruction,  specially  directed  by  the  Hatti  Humayoun 
to  be  a  mixed  council,  had  but  one  non-Moslem  member, 
although  it  decided  upon  the  interests  of  all  Christian  schools 
in  the  country.  The  Superior  Council  of  Censorship  had  also 
a  very  insignificant  proportion  of  non-Moslem  members,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  fact  that  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  books 
for  Christians  either  published  in  Turkey  or  imported  from 
without  were  by  Protestants.  Although  the  proportion  of 
readers  of  books  in  the  Protestant  communities  was  far 
greater  than  in  any  other,  there  was  not  a  single  Protestant 


BOARD  OF  CENSORS. 


349 


on  this  council,  or  indeed  in  any  high  council  or  responsible 
position  under  the  government.  One  result  of  this  was  seen 
in  the  absurd  laws  passed  by  the  Board  of  Censors  with 
regard  to  the  introduction  and  publication  of  books.  Instances 
of  this  kind  could  be  given  in  numbers ;  thus  the  word 
Armenia  was  stricken  out  of  every  book.  A  translation  of 
the  hymn —  ^  *** 


a  jt  M 


“  The  children  are  gathering  from  near  and  from  far, 
The  trumpet  is  sounding  the  call  for  the  war,” 


s  & 


f*  v 


% 


was  forbidden  as  being  revolutionary,  and  even  a  number  of 
English  hymn  books  were  detained  for  weeks  and  months  by 
the  Board  of  Censors,  in  the  search  for  the  English  version  of 
this  same  hymn. 

One  of  the  special  points  in  the  Hatti  Humayoun  was  the 
suppression  of  the  ancient  custom  of  making  the  police 
agents  collectors  of  taxes.  This  had  given  rise  to  grave 
abuses.  Little  by  little  the  usage  was  restored  and  finally,  in 
the  summer  of  this  year,  an  imperial  edict  set  aside  the  work 
of  that  charter,  by  appointing  the  police  throughout  the 
country  to  be  tax-collecting  agents,  with  a  system  of  rewards 
to  those  officers  who  should  succeed  best  in  collecting  money. 
Torture  and  capital  punishment  were  absolutely  forbidden  by 
this  same  charter,  yet  in  the  trials  in  regard  to  the  disturb¬ 
ances  at  Angora,  in  1893,  and  at  Yuzgat,  in  1894,  torture  of 
the  most  inhuman  character  was  extensively  used  in  order  to 
force  men  to  testify  according  to  the  orders  of  the  officials. 
An  Armenian  at  Marsovan  was  flooded  until  his  back  was 
raw  flesh,  to  force  him  to  sign  a  declaration  that  certain  Ameri¬ 
cans  were  plotting  with  Armenians  an  insurrection.  An 
Armenian  blacksmith,  in  the  province  of  Angora,  was  made 
insane  by  the  torture  inflicted  on  him  in  prison. 


350 


BRUTAL  INSULTS. 


Residents  in  Constantinople  and  throughout  the  empire  in 
the  early  years  of  the  century  had  been  accustomed  to  hear 
the  most  opprobrious  epithets  used  to  them  by  Turks  of 
every  grade.  Under  the  influence  of  Abdul  Medjid  and  the 
Hatti  Humayoun  this  diminished  greatly,  and  as  a  conse¬ 
quence  the  social  relations  grew  more  and  more  friendly. 
During  the  five  years  previous  to  1894,  however,  a  marked 
change  was  noticed  everywhere  throughout  the  empire. 
There  was  far  more  of  brutality  in  the  treatment  of  individuals  ; 
there  was  an  increasing  lack  of  regard  for  the  customs  of  the 
Christians.  The  governor  of  Nicomedia,  only  sixty  miles 
from  Constantinople,  ordered  a  leading  Christian  merchant  of 
that  place  to  open  his  shop  for  business  on  Sunday.  On  his 
refusal  to  do  that  which  his  religion  forbade,  this  same  officer 
publicly  and  abominably  reviled  the  religion  that  taught  him 
such  a  thing.  He  then  struck  the  merchant  in  the  face  and 
tried  by  fierce  threats  to  compel  him  to  “obey  the  orders  of 
an  officer  of  the  Sultan.”  In  the  province  of  Erzrum  some 
soldiers  came  to  a  village  on  Sunday  and  demanded  sacks 
to  carry  grain.  They  were  requested  to  wait  until  the 
close  of  the  service  when  the  sacks  would  be  furnished.  They 
however  entered  the  church,  bawled  out  to  the  preacher  to 
stop  the  service,  and  even  drew  their  swords  upon  the  men 
who  sought  to  quiet  this  interruption.  An  officer  of  a  Christian 
community  in  another  city  had  occasion  to  go  to  police  head¬ 
quarters  for  a  document.  He  was  met  with  a  torrent  of  un¬ 
speakably  vile  abuse  of  himself  and  the  most  sacred  things  of 
his  religion.  There  .were  a  large  number  of  officers  and  pri¬ 
vates  of  the  police  present,  but  not  one  remonstrated.  In  no 
case  was  there  any  possibility  of  redress,  although  twenty 


TREATMENT  OF  CHRISTIANS. 


351 

years  before,  punishment  would  have  been  accorded  promptly 
to  the  offending  officers. 

With  regard  to  the  general  treatment  of  the  Christian 
peasants  in  the  districts  of  Eastern  Turkey,  it  is  impossible  to 
give  anything  like  an  adequate  conception  of  the  situation. 
Not  merely  were  the  villagers  subject  to  open  robbery  by  the 
Kurds,  but  to  the  scarcely  less  ruinous  extortion  carried  on 
by  the  lower  government  officials.  The  outrages  carried 
on  by  Kurds  under  their  new  semi-military  organization,  had 
given  occasion  to  petition  after  petition  to  the  Central  Govern¬ 
ment.  No  attention,  however,  was  paid  to  them,  and  in  1893 
orders  were  sent  from  Constantinople  forbidding  the  trans¬ 
mission  of  any  more  petitions  against  these  regiments.  But 
it  was  not  merely  the  Kurds  that  the  people  had  to  fear. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  Circassians  that  were 
brought  in  in  such  numbers  from  the  Caucasus.  They  had 
spread  themselves  over  Western  Asia  Minor,  and  while  at  first 
less  bold  became,  during  the  five  years  under  special  survey, 
so  arrogant  that  no  Christian  farmer  could  hope  to  hold  his 
property  if  it  pleased  the  eye  of  one  of  these  men.  A  general 
survey  of  the  whole  situation  leaves  the  inevitable  impression 
of  a  plan  officially  adopted  to  wage  an  indirect  war  upon  the 
whole  Christian  population  by  crushing  them,  reducing  them 
to  poverty,  and  to  clear  them  off  from  the  face  of  the  land 
in  order  to  replace  them  by  a  Moslem  population. 

That  this  plan  was  a  general  one  against  all  non-Moslems 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  oppression  and  the  injustice 
was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  Armenian  villages  and  towns. 
The  Greek  villages  suffered  only  in  a  secondary  measure, 
while  the  Christian  population  of  Mesopotamia  suffered  fully 
as  much.  In  The  Independent  of  New  York,  in  the  issue  of 

21 


352 


KURDISH  EXACTIONS. 


January  17th,  1895,  was  published  a  long  statement  as  to  the 
exactions  made  upon  the  various  villages  by  the  Kurdish 
chiefs  and  also  by  the  government  officials.  The  following  is 
an  illustration  of  the  latter.  During  the  summer  of  1894 
the  government  demanded  back  taxes  from  a  certain  village 
to  a  large  amount,  which  according  to  the  villagers  had  no 
foundation  in  justice.  They  had  already  been  impoverished 
and  had  no  means  of  paying  the  tax.  Under  very  heavy 
pressure  from  the  government,  however,  they  raised  a  part  of 
the  sum  by  mortgaging  their  fields  and  future  crops,  leaving 
a  balance  which  they  absolutely  could  not  pay.  Driven 
to  desperation  by  the  soldiers,  who  insisted  upon  collecting 
the  taxes,  they  entirely  deserted  their  village  and  fled  to  the 
mountains.  After  some  months  the  government  endeavored 
to  induce  them  to  return,  and  promised  redress  for  their 
wrongs.  When  however  they  did  return,  still  increased 
pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  them  to  secure  money. 
In  a  number  of  villages  the  people  were  literally  bought 
as  slaves.  In  some  cases  the  food  supply,  beds,  household 
utensils,  farmers’  implements  were  seized  by  the  collectors 
in  lieu  of  taxes.  These  collectors  then  made  false  returns  of 
taxes  received,  and  when  the  new  officials  came,  using  the 
incomplete  reports  of  their  predecessors  they  again  collected 
the  taxes,  entailing  much  suffering. 

In  still  further  proof  of  the  statement  that  the  situation  was 
the  result  of  a  general  plan  for  the  suppressing  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians,  attention  should  be  called  to  a  series  of  facts  with  re¬ 
gard  to  aggressions  upon  specific  religious  liberty.  Before 
.1856,  an  imperial  firman  (permit)  had  been  required  for  all 
Christian  churches,  and  worship  in  any  others  than  those  in¬ 
dorsed  by  the  Imperial  Government  was  absolutely  forbidden. 


A  NEW  EDICT. 


353 


After  that  date  the  Hatti  Humayoun  recognized  the  right  of 
all  people  to  worship  as  they  saw  fit;  and  while  the  con¬ 
struction  of  churches  was  especially  referred  for  authoriza¬ 
tion  by  imperial  firman,  the  right  to  read  the  Testament,  as 
worship  was  called,  in  private  dwellings  was  fully  acknowl¬ 
edged. 

o 

From  that  time  until  1891,  this  liberty  was  enjoyed 
throughout  the  country.  When  it  became  a  question  of  the 
erection  of  a  large  church  to  be  consecrated  for  divine  ser¬ 
vice,  the  imperial  permit  was  always  secured.  But  there  were 
many  cases  in  smaller  villages  and  towns,  and  even  in  cities, 
where  the  community  was  not  large  enough  to  warrant  an 
expensive  building,  where  the  people  gathered  in  a  room  in  a 
private  house.  This  served  for  service  on  Sunday  and  some¬ 
times  on  week  days  ;  also  for  private  schools,  and  meantime 
was  in  many  instances  a  dwelling  place  for  the  family  of  the 
preacher  or  teacher.  It  was  not  until  1891  that  the  Sublime 
Porte  questioned  for  the  first  time  officially  the  right  of 
Christians  to  conduct  worship  in  this  way  in  private  houses. 
In  the  following  year  an  edict  was  issued  which  took  advan¬ 
tage  of  the  fact  that  in  certain  cases  worship  was  conducted 
in  the  same  room  as  private  schools,  and  basing  its  claim  upon 
the  recognized  law  that  schools  were  under  general  imperial 
supervision,  decreed  the  suppression  of  worship  in  schools 
not  formally  authorized  and  found  to  be  without  permits  after 
a  stipulated  time.  When  objection  was  made  to  this,  the 
reply  was  that  this  was  a  technical  measure,  bringing  existing 
places  of  worship  under  regular  forms,  and  promising  that 
permits  would  be  issued  promptly  on  application.  As  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  fact  several  permits  were  thus  issued.  But  two  years 
later  a  new  move  was  made  in  this  same  direction  and  a 


354 


RIGHT  TO  WORSHIP. 


number  of  places  of  Protestant  worship  throughout  Asiatic 
Turkey  were  suppressed,  under  the  claim  that  no  worship  at 
all  could  be  carried  on  in  any  building  that  had  not  received 
specific  authorization  by  imperial  firman.  The  situation  was 
explained  by  a  provincial  official  as  follows  :  “  Every  place 
where  a  Christian  says  his  prayers  is  reckoned  as  a  church, 
and  a  church  cannot  exist  without  an  imperial  firman.” 
The  result  of  this  was  that  there  were  numerous  cases  all 
over  the  country,  not  merely  in  the  interior,  but  in  Constanti¬ 
nople  and  in  Syria,  where  the  Protestants  were  prohibited 
from  worship. 

One  case  deserves  special  note.  For  many  years  the 
Protestant  community  in  Stamboul,  or  the  city  proper  of 
Constantinople,  had  worshipped  in  a  private  house  under  the 
general  permit  accorded  in  1856.  That  building  became  un¬ 
safe  through  age  and  a  new  one  was  desired.  Petition  after 
petition  was  made,  and  every  conceivable  pretext,  and  many 
that  seemed  absolutely  inconceivable,  was  brought  forward 
to  prevent  their  securing  the  right  to  worship.  Similar  in¬ 
stances  occurred  in  Sidon,  in  Syria,  others  in  the  provinces 
of  Trebizond,  Harput,  Angora  and  Adana.  In  the  city  of 
Ordu,  not  far  from  Trebizond,  where  there  was  a  large 
Protestant  community,  effort  after  effort  was  made  to  secure 
a  building,  and  one  was  at  last  obtained  after  repeated  appli¬ 
cations.  Objections,  however,  were  made  by  local  Greek 
priests,  and  the  Turkish  Government  took  advantage  of  this 
and  stopped  the  worship.  It  thus  became  notorious  that  the 
government  would  take  advantage  of  every  pretext  of  what¬ 
ever  kind,  whether  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  local  magnates 
or  of  what  they  considered  general  welfare,  to  check  so  far  as 
possible  the  spread  of  Christian  worship.  Of  course  the 


SUPPRESSING  SCHOOLS.  355 

regularly  authorized  churches  were  not  disturbed,  whether 
belonging  to  Armenians,  Greeks,  Jacobites  or  Protestants. 

What  is  perhaps  a  still  more  marked  instance  of  this  is 
found  in  the  action  with  regard  to  schools.  According  to  the 
Hatti  Humayoun  the  various  communities  were  authorized  to 
open  schools  and  in  the  circular  that  attended  the  promulga¬ 
tion  of  the  edict  it  was  said  : 

“  In  regard  to  schools  created  and  erected  by  the  communities,  the  most  absolute  liberty 
is  left  to  them  by  the  Imperial  Government,  which  never  intervenes  save  to  prevent  in  cases 
of  necessity  the  confiding  of  the  direction  of  these  schools  to  persons  whose  principles  are 
notoriously  hostile  to  the  authority  of  the  Imperial  Government  or  contrary  to  public 
order.” 


For  twenty-eight  years  this  liberty  was  fully  enjoyed  by  the 
various  Christian  communities.  The  result  was  the  springing 
up  of  a  system  of  education  over  the  whole  country  that 
changed  in  many  respects  the  character  of  the  various  com¬ 
munities.  The  dominant  cause  for  this  is  set  forth  in  another 
chapter,  that  on  mission  work,  and  need  not  be  explained 
here  further  than  to  say  that  the  impulse  was  given  by  the 
American  and  English  missonaries,  but  was  cordially  followed 
out  by  Armenian,  Greek,  Maronite,  Bulgarian  and  other 
Christian  communities,  and  had  its  effect  even  upon  the 
Moslems  themselves.  In  Syria  in  1882,  and  throughout  the 
empire  in  1884,  the  government  suddenly  commenced  to  sup¬ 
press  Christian  schools  on  the  ground  of  lack  of  conformity 
to  the  school  law  of  1867.  This  was  news  to  all.  But  on 
examination  it  was  found  that  in  an  obscure  paragraph  pre¬ 
ceded  and  followed  by  matter  relating  solely  to  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  a  governmental  system,  there  was  a  single  clause 
touching  what  are  known  as  private  schools.  According  to 
this  these  are  permitted  on  condition  that  the  course  of 


356 


HEAVY  PENALTIES. 


study,  the  books  used,  and  the  diplomas  of  the  teachers  be 
submitted  for  the  approval  of  the  local  authorities.  For  fif¬ 
teen  years  this  had  been  held  in  abeyance,  and  was  absolutely 
unknown  until  some  thirty  schools  were  closed  in  Syria  for 
disobedience  of  it.  Then  followed  a  series  of  negotiations, 
which  resulted  in  a  declaration  by  the  Minister  of  Public  In¬ 
struction  that  existing  Christian  schools  would  not  be  molested 
if  they  submitted  to  control  in  the  three  points  mentioned. 
Throughout  the  country  there  was  general  submission  to  this 
control,  but  on  application  for  permits,  the  statement  was 
uniformly  made  that  they  could  be  given  to  none  but  new 
schools. 

This  again  blocked  the  way.  Three  years  later  a  large 
number  were  closed  for  lack  of  permits.  Then  followed  re¬ 
newed  negotiations;  and  a  vizerial  order  was  issued  in  1889, 
confirming  the  declaration  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion.  Again  three  years  later  the  edict  referred  to  was  issued, 
ordering  the  closing  of  all  schools  and  places  of  worship 
which  did  not  obtain  formal  permits  within  a  specified  time, 
though  it  was  left  to  the  will  of  the  officials  to  issue  or  refuse 
the  permits.  The  situation  was  then  somewhat  alleviated,  but 
the  next  year  a  new  difficulty  arose.  The  local  authorities 
claimed  that  the  permits  required  were  not  those  of  the  De¬ 
partment  of  Public  Instruction  but  an  imperial  firman,  and  in 
1894,  the  Sublime  Porte  declared  that  no  school  of  any  kind 
could  exist  without  an  imperial  firman.  Stringent  orders 
were  issued  laying  heavy  penalties  upon  officials  who  neglected 
to  close  schools  without  permits.  Teachers  were  forbidden  to 
allow  addresses  to  be  made  to  scholars  or  to  have  essays  read  by 
scholars  at  public  festivals  without  first  submitting  both  to  the 
censorship.  No  private  house  occupied  by  an  authorized 


CENSORSHIP  OF  THE  PRESS. 


357 

Christian  school  was  to  be  repaired  except  by  special  order 
from  Constantinople  ;  houses  or  building  lots  could  not  be  pur¬ 
chased  by  English,  American  or  French  subjects  without  a 
bond  promising  that  the  buildings  should  be  razed  to  the 
ground  if  worship  or  schools  were  at  any  time  established  in 
them. 

The  inevitable  result  of  this  was  to  fill  the  provincial  au¬ 
thorities  with  the  idea  that  the  Ottoman  Government  was  hos¬ 
tile  to  Christian  educational  institutions. 

Another  illustration  was  the  requirement  by  a  decree  issued 
in  this  same  year  that  all  Christian  schools  were  to  give 
considerable  instruction  in  the  Turkish  language.  Such  an 
edict  inevitably  closed  the  schools  in  Damascus,  in  Mesopo¬ 
tamia  and  in  certain  portions  of  Asia  Minor,  where  neither 
teachers  nor  scholars  knew  that  language.  About  the  same 
time  there  came  to  light  the  influence  of  a  law  issued  in  1892, 
organizing  an  Imperial  Civil  Service  school,  which  forbade  the 
employment  in  government  bureaus  of  any  one  graduating 
from  other  than  government  schools.  Thus  ao-ain  a  blow  was 
struck  at  the  higher  education  in  Christian  schools  through¬ 
out  the  country. 

In  the  same  line  with  this  was  the  action  of  the  government 

o 

with  regard  to  censorship  of  the  press  and  of  books,  whether 
those  printed  in  the  country  or  imported  from  abroad.  Im¬ 
mediately  following  1856,  there  was  considerable  freedom  of 
action  in  this  particular.  While  there  was  a  general  super¬ 
vision  of  everything  that  was  either  printed  or  imported  into 
the  empire,  there  was  manifest  an  inclination  to  trust  to  the 
honor  of  reputable  publishers  and  importers.  Occasionally 
there  was  transgression,  but  as  a  rule  by  private  individuals 
The  large  societies  or  printing  houses  invariably  sought  tG 


* 


358 


INCREASED  RESTRICTIONS. 


accord  absolutely  to  the  law,  even  where  they  found  it  ex¬ 
tremely  irksome.  With  the  advent  of  the  present  Sultan, 
however,  a  change  became  manifest.  Constantly  increasing 
restrictions  were  placed.  Law  after  law  regulating  the  sale 
and  publishing  of  books  was  issued,  each  more  stringent  than 
its  predecessor.  No  book  was  allowed  to  be  printed  without 
carrying  on  its  title  page  the  permit  of  the  Bureau  of  Censors, 
and  no  book  was  allowed  to  be  imported  without  the  stamp 
of  the  censors.  Considerable  negotiation  in  this  regard  re¬ 
sulted  in  a  plan,  which  while  irksome  was  not  really  injurious, 
and  it  was  thought  that  everything  would  move  rightly. 

Soon,  however,  it  became  evident  that  still  more  restric¬ 
tions  were  to  be  enforced.  The  existing  law  was  interpreted 
in  the  most  absurd  ways.  As  an  illustration  ;  a  colporteur 
started  out  from  the  city  of  Erzrum  to  carry  his  books  through 
the  villages.  He  was  stopped  at  the  gate  of  the  city  by  the 
police.  He  showed  his  traveling  passport  and  stated  that  all 
his  books  had  the  permit  of  the  official  board  of  censors.  The 
officer  would  accept  nothing  and  insisted  upon  his  going  to 
the  government  house.  There  his  books  were  placed  in  a 
room  and  he  was  told  to  come  after  a  few  days.  He  came 
but  there  was  no  reply ;  there  had  been  no  time  to  examine 
the  case.  He  came  again,  and  at  last  by  persistence  secured 
the  examination  by  the  proper  officer.  This  examination 
showed  conclusively  that  everything  was  according  to  law, 
and  the  colporteur  was  permitted  to  go.  He  started  again  to 
the  gate  of  the  city,  and  found  a  new  officer  on  duty.  He  was 
again  arrested  and  sent  back  to  the  government  house. 
Again  there  was  a  delay,  until  the  same  officer’s  attention 
could  be  secured.  This  thing  happened  several  times  and 
several  weeks  passed  before  the  man  could  go  on  his  way. 


i  i  i 


GATEWAY  INTO  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE.  The  fire  tower  on  the  right. 
The  horses  are  those  used  by  persons  wishing  to  go  about  the  city,  many  of  the  streets  being  almost  impassable  for 
carriages.  '1  he  wagons  are  what  are  called  “emigrant  ”  wagons,  used  for  cartage  by  peasants,  who  have  biought  them 
from  European  1 urkey. 


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SEVERE  PUNISHMENT.  361 

Instances  innumerable  of  this  kind  could  be  given  from  all 

o 

over  the  country. 

The  last  law  gave  a  list  of  subjects  on  which  all  publications 
were  absolutely  prohibited,  so  broad  that  any  official  might 
if  he  chose,  exclude  from  this  province  all  Christian  literature. 
Any  censor  in  the  capital  or  in  the  interior  provinces  might 
reject  a  book  if  a  single  sentence  in  it  appeared  of  doubtful 
meaning,  and  severe  penalties  upon  the  importation,  sale,  dis¬ 
tribution  or  even  transportation  of  any  book  which  had  not 
received  the  censors’  approval,  were  applied  not  merely  to 
dealers  but  to  private  owners.  The  result  of  this  was  that 
again  and  again  individuals  were  severely  punished  for  hav¬ 
ing  in  their  possession  technically  unauthorized  books ;  that 
is,  such  as  had  been  published  before  the  existence  of  these 
later  laws.  The  effect  of  this  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  through- 
out  the  interior  provinces  of  the  empire  it  has  been  of  late  al¬ 
most  impossible  to  find  any  books  at  all,  and  the  children  of 
fairly  educated  parents  are  growing  up  in  ignorance. 

But  the  animus  of  the  law  was  seen  not  only  in  its  applica¬ 
tion  to  the  interior  provinces,  but  to  the  private  libraries  of 
foreigners,  and  to  the  local  press  in  the  border  cities.  In  few 
countries  has  there  been  a  greater  newspaper  development 
than  in  certain  parts  of  Turkey.  In  Constantinople,  there  are 
a  large  number  of  daily  papers  in  every  language,  Turkish, 
Armenian,  Greek,  French,  English,  Italian,  Spanish,  Judaeo- 
Spanish  (for  the  large  number  of  Spanish  Jews),  Bulgarian, 
Arabic  and  others.  Over  every  one  of  these  papers  there 
was  exercised  the  most  rigid  censorship  ;  not  merely  local 
news,  but  foreign  news  was  subjected  to  the  most  careful 
examination,  and  any  item  of  any  kind,  that  did  not  meet  with 
the  approval  of  the  officers,  was  remorselessly  stricken  out. 


FALSE  STATEMENTS. 


362 

More  than  that,  every  paper  was  compelled  under  penalty  of 
instant  suppression,  to  publish  every  item  that  the  govern¬ 
ment  saw  fit  to  issue  to  it.  The  effect  of  this  is  seen  in  the 
statements  in  connection  with  the  massacres.  No  statement 
of  any  kind  with  regard  to  these  massacres  was  allowed,  until 
they  became  so  notorious  that  it  was  simply  impossible  to 
absolutely  prevent  them.  Then  the  government  issued  offi¬ 
cial  statements  so  utterly  false,  that  not  even  the  Turks  them¬ 
selves  would  believe  them.  The  following  paragraphs,  from 
the  paper  referred  to  above,  illustrate  very  fully  the  nature 
of  many  of  these  restrictions : 

“  The  censorship  of  foreign  religious  and  literary  works  is 
so  stringent  as  to  deprive  the  Christians  in  Turkey  of  the 
ordinary  means  of  keeping  in  touch  with  the  advancement  of 
knowledge  among  their  co-religionists  abroad.  Such  classics 
of  English  literature,  for  instance,  as  Shakespeare,  Byron, 
Milton,  Scott,  are  refused  authorization.  So  with  the  higher 
literature  of  any  language.  No  standard  History,  no  Ency¬ 
clopedia,  no  treatise  on  metaphysics  of  any  extended  character, 
no  full  and  extended  theology  or  commentary  on  the  Bible, 
can  pass  the  censorship  for  introduction  into  the  interior  of 
Turkey.  And  if  any  minister  or  teacher,  anxious  to  fill  well 
his  place,  ventures  to  smuggle  such  books  through  or  to 
possess  the  rudiments  of  a  library,  he  is  certain  sooner  or 
later  to  fall  under  the  notice  of  the  paid  spy,  and  then  must 
submit  to  the  condemnation  for  the  crime  which  the  authorities 
choose  to  consider  to  be  “incited  ”  by  the  history  or  theolog¬ 
ical  work  concerned.  The  effect  of  the  refusal  to  admit  the 
standard  works  of  Christendom,  in  keeping  teachers  of  Chris¬ 
tian  schools  in  Turkey  down  to  the  level  of  the  primary 
school,  need  not  be  enlarged  upon. 


PROHIBITED  WORDS. 


363 


“The  censorship  of  books  published  within  the  empire  is 
still  more  rigorous,  no  longer  professing  to  confine  itself  to 
politics  or  to  polemics  in  religion,  but  taking  hold  of  and 
mutilating  books  designed  for  the  religious  instruction  and 
encouragement  of  Christians.  It  is  conceivable  that  here 

D 

Mohammedan  censors  might  defend  their  right  to  prohibit,  as 
they  do,  the  publication  in  Turkish,  where  Moslems  might  see 
them,  of  the  noble  works  which  have  been  the  inspiration  and 
the  comfort  of  Christians  in  all  ages.  But  it  is  not  conceiv¬ 
able  that  justification  can  be  found  in  the  case  of  interference 
with  the  publication  of  such  books,  printed,  not  in  Arabic 
letters  that  Moslems  use,  but  in  the  Christian  alphabets  which 
no  Mohammedan  can  read.  Yet  the  Christian,  anxious  to 
aid  his  fellow-Christians  to  lead  noble  and  useful  lives,  may 
not  publish  articles  in  his  own  religious  newspapers,  which 
contain,  for  instance,  the  quotation  of  texts  of  Scripture. 
These  are  commonly  prohibited  either  on  the  plea  that  the 
texts  are  not  suitable  for  the  common  people,  or  because  they 
contain  words  which  are  forbidden,  and  cannot  be  altered  by 
the  publisher  because  they  are  the  words  of  the  Bible.  For 
instance,  a  text  which  alludes  to  rising  from  the  dead  may  not 
be  used  because  the  verb  “  to  rise”  in  some  other  context 
might  mean  something  else.  Any  passage  from  the  Bible  is 
prohibited  which  contains  any  of  the  following  words :  Per¬ 
secution,  courage,  liberty,  strength,  rights,  union,  equality,  star 
(in  astronomy  one  has  to  use  the  word  “luminary”  instead), 
king,  palace,  arms,  bloodshed,  tyranny,  hero,  etc.,  etc.  In  fact 
these  words  are  prohibited  in  religious  articles  in  any  context 
whatever.  A  Christian  religious  newspaper  may  not  place 
before  its  readers  a  hymn  or  other  poetry,  and  from  the  hymn 
books  used  in  Christian  worship  many  of  the  grand  old  hymns 


i. 


364 


VIRTUES  PROHIBITED. 


of  the  Church  have  been  expunged,  and  the  suppression  sus¬ 
tained  after  appeal  to  the  highest  authority  of  the  Porte.  A 
Christian  writer  addressing  Christians  who  know  only  Turkish, 
in  the  Turkish  language,  is  constantly  forbidden  to  use  words 
of  purely  religious  signification  which  are  the  words  used  in 
the  Bible  and  the  only  ones  known  to  the  people  to  express 
a  given  idea,  because  the  idea  is  held  by  the  censor  to  belong 
to  Mohammedanism  alone.  Of  such  are  “the  guiding  grace 
of  God;”  forbidden,  because  Moslems  do  not  admit  that 
Christians  can  have  this  grace.  “  Good  news,”  the  literal 
translation  used  in  the  Bible  of  the  Greek  word  “  Evangelion,” 
commonly  rendered  in  English  as  the  Gospel.  The  use  of 
this  word  is  prohibited,  because  Moslems  do  not  admit  that 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  “good  news.”  “Apostle” 
(resoul)  is  a  word  found  in  everyday  Turkish  law  in  its  sense 
of  messenger.  It  is  prohibited  in  the  Christian  newspaper 
press,  because  it  implies  that  the  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ 
were  sent  of  God,  which  Moslems  deny.  The  same  prohibi¬ 
tion,  for  Mohammedan  religious  reasons,  lies  upon  the  use,  in 
Christian  religious  books  or  religious  newspapers,  of  references 
to  our  Saviour  as  “the  Saviour  of  the  world  ”  or  to  his  shed¬ 
ding  his  blood  for  the  cleansing  from  sin. 

“  But  aside  from  these  interferences,  the  censors  refuse  to 
allow  certain  subjects  of  religious  discourse  to  be  presented 
to  Christians.  Thus  the  virtues  of  manliness,  of  moral 
courage,  or  resignation  under  affliction,  of  hope  in  God  under 
adversity,  are  all  subjects  concerning  which  Christian  religious 
books  may  not  speak  to  Christians.  The  same  is  true  of 
exhortations  to  benevolence,  of  practical  suggestions  to  Chris¬ 
tians  as  to  means  of  copying  Jesus  Christ  in  doing  good  to 
others,  of  suggestions  of  Christian  evangelistic  work  among 


MINISTERS  MOLESTED. 


365 


the  ignorant  and  degraded  of  the  Christian  communities,  and 
of  reference  to  Christian  missions  and  their  operations  in 
other  parts  of  the  world. 

“  Besides  all  this,  Protestant  ministers  are  molested  in  their 
services  when  they  preach  upon  these  normal  themes  of  their 
religion.  The  Protestant  pastor  of  Yuzgatwas  expelled  from 
the  place  for  no  other  offence.  The  Protestant  pastor  at 
Sungurlu  was  compelled  to  leave  that  town  for  preaching  on 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead.  The  Protestant  pastor  from 
Gemerek  is  undergoing  imprisonment  in  the  fortress  of  St. 
Jean  d’Acre  for  no  other  offence,  to  judge  from  the  evidence 
produced  at  his  trial.  The  Protestant  pastor  at  Chakmak, 
near  Cesarea,  has  just  been  thrown  into  prison  ;  and  those 
who  know  his  law-abiding  and  sterling  character,  assure  us 
that  his  efforts  to  lead  his  flock  into  closer  adherence  to  Bible 
Christianity  are  his  only  crime.  Protestant  pastors  every¬ 
where  declare  that  they  are  compelled,  in  choosing  texts  from 
the  Bible,  and  in  framing  their  exhortations  upon  them,  to 
hesitate,  and  paraphrase,  and  weigh  words,  through  fear  that 
if  they  speak  of  the  consolations  of  Christianity,  they  will  be 
charged  with  encouraging  discontent;  if  they  urge  resistance 
to  sin,  they  will  be  condemned  for  suggesting  resistance  to 
the  Turkish  Government;  or  if  they  speak  of  the  demand  of 
Christianity  for  pure  and  noble  character,  they  will  be  charged 
with  inciting  men  to  unlawful  aspirations.  On  complaint 
being  made  of  such  restrictions  upon  the  legitimate  instruc¬ 
tion  of  Christians,  officials  in  high  position  have  answered 
that  while  provincial  governors  are  constantly  sending  extracts 
from  the  Bible  to  prove  the  necessity  of  suppressing  that  book, 
Christians  should  be  grateful  for  the  privilege  of  being  allowed 
to  have  the  Bible,  instead  of  complaining  at  being  restricted 


366 


QUESTION  OF  RESTRICTION. 


in  making  or  publishing  comments  upon  it.  Yet  when  there 
has  been  removed  from  the  instruction  of  Christians  all 
reference  to  the  requirements  of  Christianity  for  practical 
benevolent  living  and  to  its  abundance  of  assurances  of  the 
Divine  aid  in  adversity  and  of  the  rewards  of  resignation,  and 
to  the  proofs  of  its  power  which  are  found  in  the  experiences 
of  the  Church  universal  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  much 
has  been  done  to  prevent  Christians  from  knowing  the  worth 
or  experiencing  the  effects  of  their  own  religion  in  their  own 
hearts.” 

It  might  be  said  that  this  whole  question  of  restriction  of  wor¬ 
ship,  schools  and  the  press,  is  looked  at  from  the  distinctively 
Turkish  standpoint,  and  the  claim  made  that  the  government 
legitimately  sought  to  protect  the  Moslems  from  being  infected 
with  Christian  ideas.  The  answer  to  this  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  restrictions  did  not  by  any  means  apply  merely  to 
publications  in  the  Arabic  character,  such  as  is  used  by  all 
Moslems,  but  to  publications  which  no  Moslem  ever  could  or 
would  read,  in  the  Armenian  or  Greek  characters,  or  even  in 
foreign  languages.  In  the  same  line  is  the  fact  that  attacks 
upon  Christianity  were  freely  allowed  by  the  Turkish 
Government,  while  replies  from  Christians  were  distinctly  for¬ 
bidden.  These  Moslem  attacks  were  full  of  the  most  scurril¬ 
ous  statements  and  contemptuous  epithets,  and  were  so 
maliciously  false  as  to  almost  overshoot  their  mark.  Still 
the  authors  of  these  works  were  decorated  by  the  Sultan  him¬ 
self,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  give  to  them  the  widest 
possible  circulation.  So,  also,  in  the  Turkish  newspapers, 
attacks  after  attacks  were  made  upon  the  Christian  subjects 
of  the  Sultan,  to  which  absolutely  no  reply  was  allowed.  The 
paper  closes  with  the  following  summary: — . 


REVIEW  OF  THE  CASE. 


367 


“  To  review  the  case,  we  find  an  increasing  stringency  in 
Turkey  directed  against  Christian  education,  an  increasing 
tendency  to  hinder  Christian  worship,  an  increasing  hostility 
to  the  use  of  books  by  the  Christians  of  Turkey,  which  result 
in  actually  crippling  the  intellectual  powers  of  men  who  would 
carry  their  culture  along  the  lines  of  the  best  thought  of  Chris¬ 
tendom.  We  find  an  increasing  vigilance  to  prevent  Chris¬ 
tians  from  exercising  the  injunctions  of  their  religion  in  prac¬ 
tical  benevolence  and  beneficence  among  their  own  people. 
And  in  these  later  years  we  find  this  tendency  reaching  a 
climax  of  intensity  in  the  rough  hands  laid  upon  the  exposi¬ 
tion  of  the  Christian  faith  in  a  way  to  prevent  Christians  from 
learning  the  full  value  of  their  religion  and  to  prevent  the 
Christian  religion  from  producing  its  full  fruit  among  its  fol¬ 
lowers.  In  answer  to  inquiry  as  to  the  meaning  of  this 
rapid  trend  of  different  lines  of  policy  converging  to  one 
point,  we  are  told  that  the  trouble  is  that  Christianity  tends  to 
make  men  grow  into  a  better  manhood.  This  statement  is 
made  in  various  forms  of  paraphrase  by  officials  of  all  grades 
from  Bagdad  to  the  Bosporus,  and  in  answer  to  all  objec¬ 
tions,  to  the  closing  of  schools,  to  the  suppression  of  worship, 
to  the  restrictions  put  upon  the  use  of  books,  to  the  elision  of 
words  and  subjects  from  manuscripts  in  the  press,  and  to  the 
silencing  of  Christian  ministers.  To  this  declaration  we  make 
answer  that  the  deliberate  purpose  of  the  founder  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  and  of  the  religion  which  He  taught  is  the  purpose  to 
take  the  debased  and  ignorant,  and  to  make  them  men,  self- 
controlled,  honest  and  useful ;  that  the  purpose  to  elevate  man 
is  not  a  disloyal  or  seditious  purpose  ;  and  that  any  far- 
reaching  scheme  to  restrain  Christianity  from  accomplishing 
its  full  fruit  in  purifying  and  quickening  the  lives  of  its 
followers,  is  war  upon  the  Christian  religion  itself.” 


t 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Sassun  Massacre. 

A  Deliberate  Plan  of  The  Turkish  Government — Kurdish  Raids — Armenians  Defend 
Themselves — Kurds  Reinforced  by  Regular  Troops— Terrible  Scenes  of  Slaughter- 
Stories  of  Survivors. 

IN  view  of  the  situation  set  forth  in  the  preceding  chapter 
the  European  powers  emphasized  more  earnestly  than 
before  their  demand  for  reforms,  and  the  Turkish  Government 
became  convinced  that  another  step  was  necessary  in  order 
to  avert  what  they  feared  would  be  the  complete  destruction 
of  their  power.  What  that  step  was  it  is  the  object  of  this 
chapter  to  describe,  leaving  the  inference  as  to  the  plan  to 
come  later. 

Among  the  different  plains  of  Eastern  Turkey  there  is  none 
more  fertile  than  the  plain  of  Mush,  about  forty  miles  west  of 
Lake  Van.  From  the  earliest  times  it  has  been  noted  for  its 
harvests  and  for  the  general  prosperity  of  its  people,  who 
partook,  to  a  greater  degree  than  was  true  of  many  other 
sections,  of  the  vigor  of  the  mountaineers.  Bordered  with 
high  mountains  on  every  side  it  was  always  an  object  of  envy 
to  the  Kurdish  tribes.  Incursions  had  been  repeatedly  made 
and  some  result  was  manifest  in  the  increase  of  Moslem  vil¬ 
lages  here  and  there  over  the  plain.  Still,  however,  it  was 
the  center  of  Armenian  influence  in  that  section ;  even  Bitlis 
and  Van  were  scarcely  more  intensely  Armenian  than  Mush. 

It  was  natural  also  that  some  of  the  revolutionists  should 

(368) 


THE  NEW  ARMENIA. 


369 


turn  their  eyes  to  this  section.  Here  if  anywhere  must  be 
the  center  of  the  new  Armenia,  and  an  effort  was  undoubt¬ 
edly  made  to  stir  some  of  the  people  to  a  revolution  in  oppo¬ 
sition  to  the  Turkish  Government.  The  plain  villagers,  how¬ 
ever,  furnished  very  little  encouragement  for  anything  of  this 
kind.  They  realized  perhaps  even  more  clearly  than  the 
mountaineers  did  that  opposition  to  the  combined  force  of  the 
Turkish  Government  and  the  Kurdish  tribes  was  worse  than 
useless,  and  the  agitators  found  themselves  turned  aside  after 
accomplishing  but  very  li;*le.  They  then  turned  their  at¬ 
tention  to  the  mountain  villages  where  the  spirit  of  independ¬ 
ence  was  more  strongly  manifest.  In  the  summer  of  1893 
one  of  these  men  was  captured  near  the  city  of  Mush,  and  the 
government  had  suspicion  that  friends  of  his  were  gathering 
in  the  mountains  on  the  east.  They  accordingly  sent  word 
to  certain  Kurdish  chiefs  whose  men  had  been  enrolled  in  the 
Hamidieh  cavalry  to  make  a  raid.  Knowing  the  character  of 
the  mountaineers,  these  chiefs  made  their  preparations  some¬ 
what  carefully.  They  gathered  their  men  from  every  side, 
and  it  became  evident  to  the  Armenians  that  there  was  to  be 
trouble.  For  a  time  there  were  simply  ordinary  raids ;  ani¬ 
mals  were  carried  off,  occasionally  a  man  was  killed — some¬ 
times  Armenian,  sometimes  Kurd.  Ordinarily  when  a  Kurd 
was  slain  his  body  was  secured  for  burial  before  his  people 
could  come  to  claim  it. 

At  last  there  was  a  pitched  battle  in  which  the  villagers 
were  able  to  do  considerable  execution  without  heavy  loss  of 
life  to  themselves.  The  Kurdish  chiefs  finding  themselves 
worsted  withdrew,  and  no  sufficient  pressure  could  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  them  to  make  them  renew  the  contest.  The 
Governor-General  of  the  province,  however,  with  troops  and 

22 


37° 


A  WORSE  SITUATION. 


field  pieces,  infested  the  mountains  but  made  no  attack,  pre¬ 
ferring  apparently  to  come  into  parley  with  the  Armenians. 
He  asked  them  why  they  did  not  submit  to  the  government 
and  pay  taxes.  Their  reply  was  that  they  were  not  at  all  dis¬ 
loyal  to  the  government,  but  could  not  pay  taxes  twice,  to 
Kurds  and  to  the  government.  If  the  Turkish  authorities 
would  give  protection,  they  were  perfectly  willing  to  pay  the 
taxes.  During  the  winter  several  of  their  leaders  were  in¬ 
vited  to  Mush  but  declined  to  accept. 

**  With  the  advent  of  the  spring  of  1894,  the  situation 
became  worse.  The  government  decided  to  make  the  advance 
and  reiterated  its  instructions  to  the  Kurdish  chiefs  to  attack 
the  whole  section,  west  of  the  Mush  plain  and  known  now  as 
Sassun,  which  included  about  forty  villages.  They  came  on 
every  side  and  practically  besieged  the  whole  province.  They 
stole  animals,  and  the  result  was  occasional  contests  in  which 
one  or  more  on  either  side  fell.  On  one  occasion  the  Kurds 
succeeded  in  securing  the  bodies  of  two  of  their  comrades 
who  had  been  killed,  and  carried  them  to  the  government  at 
the  city  of  Mush,  reporting  that  the  whole  region  was  filled 
with  armed  men,  who  were  defying  the  power  of  the  govern¬ 
ment.  Then  followed  a  general  attack  upon  the  different 
villages.  The  Armenians  had  the  better  situation,  and  de¬ 
fended  themselves  with  considerable  success.  The  Kurds 
appeared  to  be  unequal  to  the  task  of  subduing  them.  The 
government  reinforced  them  with  soldiers,  regular  troops,  but 
generally  in  disguise  so  as  to  retain  as  far  as  possible  the 
appearance  of  the  ordinary  contests  that  had  been  going  on 
for  years  between  the  villagers  and  the  Kurdish  chiefs. 

;  Reinforced  by  these  men,  the  Kurdish  chiefs  spread  on  every 
hand.  They  were  assisted  by  the  Turkish  troops,  not  only  in 


CAMPAIGN  OF  BUTCHERY. 


371 


positive  attack,  but  in  stratagems  the  most  outrageous. 
Companies  of  troops  would  enter  a  village,  telling  the  Arme¬ 
nians  that  they  had  come  for  their  protection.  They  were 
received  and  quartered  in  the  different  houses  ;  then  in  the 
night  they  rose  and  slew  the  villagers,  men,  women,  and 
children.  Realizing  now  the  evident  intent,  the  Armenians 
resolved  to  fight  and  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible. 
The  result  was  that  for  nearly  three  weeks  from  the  latter 
part  of  August  there  was  a  general  campaign  of  butchery. 
So  bitter  was  the  contest,  that  the  Governor  of  Mush,  fearing 
that  he  had  not  sufficient  force  at  hand,  sent  word  to  the 
general  commander  of  the  Turkish  forces  in  Eastern  Turkey, 
whose  headquarters  were  at  Erzingan,  west  of  Erzrum,  to 
gather  what  troops  he  could,  to  join  with  the  troops  already 
there,  and  the  Kurds,  in  the  fio;ht. 

Word  meanwhile  had  been  sent  to  Constantinople,  that  all 
Eastern  Turkey  was  in  rebellion,  and  the  Sultan  had  issued  a 
firman,  calling  upon  his  loyal  subjects  to  put  down  the  rebellion 
at  all  hazards.  This  firman  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Commander 
Marshal  Zekki  Pasha  as  he  came  to  Mush.  He  read  it  before 
the  troops,  then  placed  it  upon  his  breast,  and  exhorted  the 
men  to  do  their  duty.  Especially  on  the  last  day  of  August, 
which  was  the  anniversary  of  the  Sultan’s  accession  to  the 
throne,  was  this  exhortation  read,  and  by  every  means  in  his 
power  he  roused  the  troops  to  the  bitterest  attack.  At  this 
time  all  pretense  of  complaint  of  revolution  was  thrown  aside. 
Villages  against  which  no  charge  of  disloyalty  had  ever  been 
made,  where  there  had  been  no  trouble  of  any  sort,  suffered 
equally  with  those  where  there  had  been  contests.  The  re¬ 
ceipt  of  taxes  amounted  to  absolutely  nothing.  On  every 
hand  it  was  proclaimed  that  there  must  be  a  clean  sweep; 


372 


BEGGING  FOR  MERCY. 


that  the  whole  population  of  the  Armenian  district  must  be 
exterminated.  In  one  village  the  priest,  and  some  of  the 
leading  men,  went  out  to  meet  the  Turkish  officer,  declaring 
their  loyalty,  and  begging  for  mercy.  It  was  all  to  no  avail., 
The  village  was  surrounded  and  every  man  put  to  death. 
The  stories  of  individual  outrages  were  such  as  scarcely  can 
be  believed.  Private  letters,  from  persons  well  qualified  to 
know  the  truth,  many  of  which  are  quoted  in  full  in  “The 
Armenian  Crisis  in  Turkey,”  by  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Greene,  give 
instances  almost  too  terrible  for  belief.  We  quote  a  few: 

“  A  number  of  able-bodied  young  Armenians  were  captured, 
bound,  covered  with  brushwood  and  burned  alive.  A  num¬ 
ber  of  Armenians,  variously  estimated,  but  less  than  a  hun¬ 
dred,  surrendered  themselves  and  pled  for  mercy.  Many  of 
them  were  shot  down  on  the  spot  and  the  remainder  were 
dispatched  with  sword  and  bayonet. 

“  A  lot  of  women,  variously  estimated  from  60  to  1 60  in  num¬ 
ber,  were  shut  up  in  a  church,  and  the  soldiers  were  “  let  loose  ” 
among  them.  Many  of  them  were  outraged  to  death  and  the 
remainder  dispatched  with  sword  and  bayonet.  A  lot  of 
young  women  were  collected  as  spoils  of  war.  Two  stories 
are  told.  i.  That  they  were  carried  off  to  the  harems  of 
their  Moslem  captors.  2.  That  they  were  offered  Islam  and 
the  harems  of  their  Moslem  captors ;  refusing,  they  were 
slaughtered.  Children  were  placed  in  a  row,  one  behind  an¬ 
other,  and  a  bullet  fired  down  the  line,  apparently  to  see  how 
many  could  be  despatched  with  one  bullet.  Infants  and  small 
children  were  piled  one  on  the  other  and  their  heads 
struck  off.  Houses  were  surrounded  by  soldiers,  set  on  fire, 
and  the  inmates  forced  back  into  the  flames  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet  as  they  tried  to  escape. 


TREATMENT  OF  WOMEN. 


373 


“At  Geligozan  many  young  men  were  tied  hand  and  foot, 
laid  in  a  row,  covered  with  brushwood  and  burned  alive. 
Others  were  seized  and  hacked  to  death  piecemeal.  At 
another  village  a  priest  and  several  leading  men  were  cap¬ 
tured,  and  promised  release,  if  they  would  tell  where  others 
had  fled,  but,  after  telling,  all  but  the  priest  were  killed.  A 
chain  was  put  around  the  priest’s  neck,  and  pulled  from  oppo¬ 
site  sides  till  he  was  several  times  choked  and  revived,  after 
which  several  bayonets  were  planted  upright,  and  he  raised  in 
the  air  and  let  fall  upon  them. 

“  The  men  of  one  village,  when  fleeing,  took  the  women  and 
children,  some  500  in  number,  and  placed  them  in  a  sort  of 
grotto  in  a  ravine.  After  several  days  the  soldiers  found 
them,  and  butchered  those  who  had  not  died  of  hunger. 

“  Sixty  young  women  and  girls  were  selected  from  one  vil¬ 
lage,  and  placed  in  a  church,  when  the  soldiers  were  ordered 
to  do  with  them  as  they  liked,  after  which  they  were  butchered. 

“  In  another  village  fifty  choice  women  were  set  aside  and 
urged  to  change  their  faith  and  become  hanums  in  Turkish 
harems,  but  they  indignantly  refused  to  deny  Christ,  prefer¬ 
ring  the  fate  of  their  fathers  and  husbands.  People  were 
crowded  into  houses  which  were  then  set  on  fire.  In  one  in¬ 
stance  a  little  boy  ran  out  of  the  flames,  but  was  caught  on  a 
bayonet  and  thrown  back.” 

The  following  stories  from  survivors  of  the  massacre  will 
give  a  more  vivid  picture  than  any  general  description  : 

STORY  OF  A  SURVIVOR  OF  THE  SASSUN  MASSACRE. 

“  My  name  is  Asdadur  Giragosian.  My  home  was  on 
the  sunny  side  of  a  high  mountain,  in  the  central  village  of 


374 


KURDISH  RAIDS. 


the  beautiful  valley  of  Geligozan.  This  valley  presents  a 
charming  scene  when  viewed  from  the  top  of  one  of  the 
surrounding  mountains,  with  many  villages  scattered  here  and 
there,  and  clumps  of  huge  walnut  trees  between,  giving  the 
valley  its  name,  ‘  Valley  of  Walnuts/ 

“Up  to  1894  my  family  was  a  prosperous  one,  as  were 
most  of  the  families  of  Sassun.  The  Kurds  who  lived  about 
us  were,  on  the  whole,  friendly,  though  they  frequently  prac¬ 
ticed  their  habitual  business  of  stealing  cattle  and  sheep,  but 
we  were  generally  able  to  re-take  our  own,  or  others  in  their 
place.  Our  family  consisted  of  twelve  members,  and  we  had 
many  cattle  and  sheep.  In  the  whole  village  were  two  hun¬ 
dred  families,  who  possessed  in  the  aggregate  more  than 
i5>°°c>  sheep.  Of  course  each  of  the  sixty  Armenian  villages 
in  the  Sassun  district  (of  which  42  are  now  ruined)  had  many 
cattle  and  sheep. 

In  the  spring  of  1894  the  Kurds  began  to  drive  away  our 
sheep  more  boldly  than  usual.  At  the  same  time  the  gov¬ 
ernment,  suspecting  that  there  were  many  armed  revolution¬ 
ists  in  Sassun,  sent  to  search  for  them,  but  failed  to  find  them. 
1  hey  then  wished  to  arrest  some  of  our  notables  and  take  them 
to  Mush  as  revolutionists,  saying,  ‘You  have  revolutionary  so¬ 
cieties  here/  We  resisted  and  prevented  their  taking  our 
men.  As  I  said,  the  Kurds  made  several  attacks  that  spring, 
carrying  off  our  animals,  and  we  pursued  them  and  rescued 
the  animals,  killing  one  or  two  men,  whom  we  buried  so  they 
could  not  find  them.  Twice  they  attacked  with  this  result,5 
but  the  third  time  we  were  not  able  to  bury  the  two  Kurds  we 
killed,  and  they  carried  them  to  Mush  and  showed  them  to 
the  government.  A  great  tumult  resulted,  and  it  was  re¬ 
ported,  The  Armenians  of  Sassun  have  rebelled  and  massa- 


FIGHTS  WITH  KURDS.  375 

cred  the  Moslem  inhabitants.’  Also,  4  They  are  armed  with 
rifles  and  cannon.’  The  Turkish  Government  availed  itself 
of  the  excuse,  and  instigated  the  Kurds  to  attack  the  Arme¬ 
nian  villagers  and  massacre  them.  This  they  attempted  to 
do,  a  large  number  attacking  us,  aided  by  many  soldiers  in 
disguise.  But  though  the  Kurds  had  been  well  armed  by 
the  government,  we  were  able,  owing  to  our  superior  position, 
to  withstand  them  successfully  for  fifteen  days.  The  Kurds 
were  constantly  repulsed,  leaving  many  dead  and  wounded. 
During  this  time  the  Turkish  soldiers  were  being  rapidly  col¬ 
lected  in  Merge-mozan.  About  twenty-five  battalions  of 
soldiers  were  gathered  there.  In  these  fights  with  the  Kurds 
we  lost  only  seven  persons,  but  three  Armenian  villages  were 
burned. 

“The  assembled  soldiers  now  began  to  attack.  One  day  we 
heard  the  sound  of  their  bugles,  and  for  a  whole  day  they  con¬ 
tinued  to  advance  with  great  tumult  and  besieged  Geligozan 
on  the  sides.  The  road  to  a  very  high  mountain  named 
Andok  was  left  open,  and  we  were  able  to  carry  our  families 
and  animals  there,  but  this  in  a  hasty  manner,  while  fighting 
with  Turkish  soldiers.  Then  the  army  divided,  one  part 
going  toward  Andok,  the  other  coming  toward  us.  We  had 
already  left  the  village  and  taken  refuge  among  the  rocks 
above  it.  Our  position  enabled  us  to  withstand  them  all  day, 
but  we  could  see  that  they  had  burned  the  village  of  Husentsik, 
near  our  own.  Toward  evening  they  made  a  fiercer  attack 
and  got  nearer  us.  Our  ammunition  was  nearly  exhausted, 
and  we  began  to  retreat.  They  now  set  fire  to  our  village 
too,  and  from  a  distance,  in  the  dark,  we  could  see  it  burning. 
We  fled  to  Andok,  where  our  families  and  animals  had  been 
carried,  but  seeing  that  it  was  not  a  safe  place  to  stay,  we  left 


376 


FLEEING  FOR  LIFE. 


it,  and  after  a  day’s  journey  over  rocks  and  mountains,  towards 
evening  reached  a  ruined  church.  Here  we  passed  the  night, 
but  in  the  morning  soldiers  appeared  and  we  hastened  our 
flight.  All  our  goods  and  most  of  our  animals  we  left  there. 
Near  evening  we  reached  a  mountain  named  Gala-rash  (Black 
Castle).  We  were  very  tired  and  hungry,  but  had  nothing  to 
eat,  so  we  killed  a  sheep  and  ate  it.  But  few  of  the  villagers 
were  to  be  found,  the  greater  part  having  fled  to  other  places. 
From  this  place  we  fled  in  the  dark  to  the  neighboring-  Kur- 
dish  village,  where  our  Aghas  (chiefs)  lived.  Before  morning 
we  learned  that  Aghpig  was  also  burned.  Our  Kurdish 
Aghas  came  out  from  the  village  to  defend  us  against  the 
soldiers,  but  did  not  succeed,  and  returned  to  the  village,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  continue  our  journey,  though  tired  and 
thirsty. 

“  When  it  was  possible  to  stop,  our  first  care  was  to  find 
water  and  kill  a  sheep  for  food.  The  following  day  we  learned 
that  Hedink  also  was  burned.  Hearing  this  we  fled  to 
Heghgat,  and  then  to  a  near  mountain.  The  next  morning 
we  heard  that  Heghgat  was  burned.  We  descended  from 
the  mountain  into  a  valley  up  which  we  slowly  retreated, 
changing  our  position  every  day.  But  on  the  third  day  our 
pursuers  appeared,  and  we  left  all  our  sheep  and  fled  with 
our  cattle.  Soon  we  left  the  cattle  too.  One  of  my  brothers, 
Atam,  fled  with  the  family,  while  my  other  brother,  his  fifteen- 
year-old  daughter,  and  I,  lagged  behind  and  entered  a  forest, 
but  when  they  saw  my  brother,  two  soldiers  fired  and  he  fell 
dead.  Hearing  the  noise,  the  girl  cried  out  and  they  saw  her 
and  shot  her  dead  also.  Me  they  did  not  find,  and  towards 
evening  I  came  out  of  the  forest,  and  hurrying  forward, 
reached  the  family  and  told  them  of  my  brother’s  and  his 


THE  CITY  OF  HARPUT  IN  EASTERN  TURKEY.  This  is  the  eastern  portion  of  the  city,  somewhat 
distant  from  the  site  occupied  by  Euphrates  College  and  the  mission  house  The  hill  is  several  hundred  feet  higher  than 
the  plain.  Immediately  in  front  with  the  dome  is  an  Armenian  Church.  The  city  of  Harput  suffered  very  severely  in  the 
massacres. 


THE  CITY  OF  AINTAB,  NORTHERN  SYRIA.  In  the  background  is  the  old  citadel.  In  the  center  is  the 
Girls’  School  of  the  American  mission.  The  building  in  the  foreground  gives  a  very  good  idea  of  the  way  in  which  the 
roofs  are  made.  The  stone  roller  is  used  especially  when,  after  a  period  of  drought,  the  rain  moistens  the  mud  surface  of 
the  roofs. 


SAVINGS. 


379 


daughters  death.  We  wept  aloud  and  spent  the  night  dis¬ 
heartened,  tired  and  hungry.  In  the  morning,  thinking  the 
soldiers  had  turned  back,  we  returned  to  a  village  to  obtain 
food.  I  found  my  brother’s  body  and  buried  it,  but  before  I 
had  time  to  bury  the  girl,  the  soldiers  appeared.  My  remain¬ 
ing  brother  fled  with  the  family,  but  I  entered  the  forest. 
In  the  morning  I  found  another  refugee  in  the  forest,  who  was 
seeking*  his  family.  He  told  me  he  had  killed  an  ox,  but  had 
been  obliged  to  leave  it  because  the  soldiers  appeared.  W^e 

o 

were  so  hungry  and  faint  that  we  could  hardly  walk,  but  we 
sought  the  ox  and  were  about  cooking  some  meat  when  sol¬ 
diers  again  appeared. 

“  So  we  left  the  fire,  climbed  up  the  mountain,  and  hid  be¬ 
hind  some  rocks.  The  soldiers  saw  us  and  two  of  them  came 
to  find  us.  We  waited  there  for  a  few  moments  all  trembling 
with  terror.  Suddenly  a  soldier  appeared,  aimed  his  gun  at  me 
and  fired,  the  bullet  piercing  my  leg.  The  other  soldier  also 
fired  and  pierced  my  thigh.  Then  they  came  up  and  severely 
wounded  me  with  their  short  swords,  in  the  shoulder  and 
thigh.  I  shut  my  eyes  and  they  thought  me  dead,  and  were 
about  to  depart  when  they  saw  my  companion  behind  a  rock ; 
they  fired  at  him  with  true  aim,  and  I  heard  his  horrible  cry 
as  he  fell.  Before  leaving  us,  one  of  the  soldiers  suspecting 
I  was  still  living,  proposed  to  cut  my  body  to  pieces,  but  his 
companion  rejected  the  proposition,  objecting  that  there  was 
no  water  to  wash  the  swords.  So  they  merely  threw  some 
large  stones  at  me,  which  fortunately  did  no  special  harm. 
When  the  soldiers  were  far  enough  away  I  spoke  to  my  com¬ 
panion  to  see  if  he  was  living,  and  he  answered  very  feebly 
saying  he  could  neither  walk  nor  move,  and  I  was  in  the 
same  condition.  Oh !  our  distress  then !  Tired,  hungry, 


TERRIBLE  SUFFERING. 


380 

thirsty,  severely  wounded,  we  should  die  in  torture,  or  be  the 
prey  of  wild  beasts.  I  cried  to  the  soldiers,  ‘We  are  still 
alive,  come  and  put  an  end  to  our  misery.’  I  cried  but  they 
did  not  hear  me. 

“  After  a  while  two  Armenian  fugitives  passed  by  and  saw 
us,  and  we  besought  them  to  carry  us  to  a  ruined  sheep-cote 
near  by.  They  were  so  hungry  and  weak  they  could  hardly 
walk,  and  said  they  were  not  able  to  carry  us,  but  yielding  to 
our  entreaties,  they  made  a  great  effort  and  carried  us  there, 
gave  us  some  water  and  fresh  cheese  and  departed.  We  re¬ 
mained  there  three  days,  these  friends  coming  to  us  at  night 
and  going  away  in  the  morning.  We  soon  saw  that  this  was 
too  dangerous  a  place  to  stay,  as  we  constantly  heard  the 
sound  of  guns  and  bullets  passing  over  our  heads.  So  they 
transferred  us  to  another  ruin,  where  we  were  tortured  by  the 
heat  by  day  and  the  cold  by  night,  naked  and  wounded.  Our 
friends  did  not  do  much  for  us,  not  believing  we  could  live. 
After  three  days  my  companion’s  mother  came,  bringing 
some  millet  to  cook  for  us,  but  going  out  to  get  some  water, 
she  heard  the  sound  of  bugles  and  fled,  but  soon  returned 
and  cooked  it.  The  next  day  our  brothers  came  with  the 
woman  and  tried  to  cook  some  wheat,  but  were  again  fright¬ 
ened  by  the  sound  of  the  bugles  and  fled,  my  brother  wishing 
to  carry  me  with  him,  but  I  said,  ‘  It  is  better  for  you  and  the 
family  to  escape.  I  must  die.’  Toward  evening  they  came 
back  and  carried  us  on  their  shoulders  to  another  place, 
where  some  other  families  had  already  taken  refuge.  Soon 
they  were  obliged  to  leave  this  place  also,  fleeing  in  haste, 
and  left  me  there.  I  remained  in  this  dreary  place  eight  days 
alone  with  my  suffering  save  that  they  sometimes  brought  me 
a  little  food.  After  the  eight  days  we  heard  that  a  firman  had 


ESCAPE. 


38l 


come  ordering"  the  massacre  to  cease.  The  soldiers  then 
drove  any  fugitives  they  met,  wounded  or  not,  to  the  ruined 
villages.  I  remained  thus  among  the  ruins  for  two  months, 
till  my  wounds  were  healed.  As  soon  as  I  was  strong  enough, 
I  left  the  ruins  and  slowly  made  my  way  to  Vartenis  (an 
Armenian  village  on  the  Mush  plain).  There  I  found  my 
wife,  but  of  the  rest  of  the  family  I  know  nothing.” 

With  the  man  whose  story  is  told  above  was  a  lad  of 
seventeen  years,  named  Serope  Asdadurian,  from  the  village 
of  Mushakhshen,  not  far  from  Mush  city.  His  statement 
shows  the  state  of  the  region  before  the  date  of  the  massacre. 

STORY  OF  SEROPE  ASDADURIAN. 

“  Our  family  consisted  of  fifteen  members,  of  whom  four 
are  now  living,  the  others  having  died  by  the  hands  of  the 
Kurds  and  Turks. 

“  Before  the  year  1893  the  brother  of  the  celebrated  robber 
chief,  Mousa  Bey,  had  abducted  the  daughter  of  the  head 
man  of  our  village.  After  a  while  the  girl  was  rescued  from 
his  hands  and  married  to  a  young  man  of  Vartenis.  In  the 
spring  of  1893  she  visited  her  father’s  house,  after  which  her 
father  wished  to  send  her,  under  safe  escort,  to  her  husband 
at  Vartenis.  He  besought  my  father  to  carry  her,  and  he  ac¬ 
cepted  the  charge.  On  the  way  fifteen  Kurds  attacked  the 
party  and  attempted  to  carry  off  the  woman,  but  my  father 
and  his  companions  resisted,  and  delivered  the  woman  safely 
to  her  husband,  two  of  the  Kurds  being  killed  in  the  affray. 
My  father  fled  to  Russia,  but  soon  returned,  and  for  a  month 
or  so  remained  so  concealed  that  no  one  saw  him.  After  a 
while,  however,  it  became  known  that  he  had  returned,  and 
suddenly  one  day  the  Mudir  (Turkish  petty  governor)  of  the 


1 


1 


A  CRIMSON  STORM. 


382 

neighboring  village  surrounded  our  house  with  a  band  of 
zabtiehs  (gendarmes)  to  seize  my  father.  He  knew  that  to 
be  taken  was  probably  to  be  killed  with  tortures,  and  deter¬ 
mined  to  sell  his  life  as  dearly  as  possible.  So  when  the 
zabtiehs  burst  open  the  door  and  came  in  my  father  killed 
one  of  them  and  rushed  out  with  his  rifle.  But  in  his  haste 
he  struck  his  head  violently  against  the  frame  of  the  door  and 
fell,  nearly  dead.  One  of  the  zabtiehs  fired  and  killed  him. 
They  then  killed  my  mother,  my  two  sisters,  my  uncle  and 
four  cousins.  They  carried  away  our  cattle  and  sheep,  robbed 
the  house  and  burned  it.” 

So  the  crimson  storm  of  carnage  rolled  on,  until  not  less 
than  thirty  villages  had  been  laid  waste,  so  completely  de¬ 
stroyed  that  even  the  names  had  been  erased  from  the  official 
records.  As  to  the  number  of  killed  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  give  accurate  estimate.  It  must  have  been  not  less  than 
five  or  six  thousand,  many  put  it  much  higher.  Some  soldiers 
said  that  a  hundred  fell  to  each  one  of  them  to  dispose  of, 
while  others  wept  because  the  Kurds  did  more  execution  than 
they.  Some,  however,  claimed  to  have  been  unwilling  actors 
in  the  scene  and  suffered  great  mental  torments.  The  wife  of 
one  noticed  that  he  failed  to  pray,  as  had  been  his  invariable 
custom.  She  spoke  of  it  to  him  and  he  answered,  “  God  will 
not  hear  me.  If  there  is  a  God  he  will  take  vengeance  for 
these  awful  deeds.  Is  there  any  use  to  pray?”  It  is  also 
told  of  other  soldiers  that  on  reaching  their  homes  they  in¬ 
quired  of  Armenian  acquaintances,  “Who  is  this  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ?  The  Sassun  women  were  constantly  calling  out 

to  Him.” 

At  last  the  carnage  stopped.  The  commander-in-chief  of 
the  fourth  army  corps  at  Erzingan  reached  the  field  in  time 


ORDER  RESTORED. 


383 


to  save  a  few  prisoners  alive  and  to  prevent  the  extermination 
of  four  more  villages  that  were  on  the  list  to  be  destroyed. 
He  then  sent  a  telegram  to  Constantinople  that  rebellion  had 
been  overcome  and  that  order  had  been  restored  in  the  province. 
For  this  he  received  a  medal  and  the  thanks  of  the  Sultan. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


Politics  and  Massacre  at  Constantinople. 

Investigation  at  Sassun — Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Situation — Disturbances  in  Constantinople — • 
Joint  Notes  by  the  Embassies — Plan  of  Reforms — New  English  Government — Massacre 
in  Constantinople — Decisive  Action  of  the  Embassies — Signing  of  the  Reforms — Subse¬ 
quent  Acts  of  Defiance — Breach  Between  England  and  Russia — Collapse  of  English 
Influence. 

THE  report  of  the  massacres  in  Sassun  aroused  a  storm 
of  indignation  throughout  Europe.  The  British 
Consul  at  Van  made  investigation,  confirmed  the  report  of  the 
massacres,  which  was  again  confirmed  by  the  local  military 
commander.  The  British  Ambassador  at  Constantinople  sent 
special  officials  to  make  public  inquiries,  with  the  result  finally 
that  the  Turkish  Government  was  informed  that  prompt, 
efficient  steps  must  be  taken  to  secure  better  government  in 
Eastern  Turkey,  or  she  would  join  with  European  Powers  in 
such  intervention  as  would  secure  peace  and  justice  for  the 
Armenians.  Meanwhile  Czar  Nicholas  had  come  to  the 
throne,  and  just  what  course  would  be  taken  by  him  was  not 
yet  evident.  There  were  indications  that  he  would  pursue  a 
different  policy  from  his  father,  more  in  the  line  of  general 
liberty  and  toleration,  and  there  was  a  widespread  feeling  that 
the  English  demand  was  practically  supported  by  Russia.  A 
Turkish  investigating  commission  was  appointed,  but  its 
(384) 


A  COMMISSION  APPOINTED. 


385 


personnel  was  such  as  to  make  it  open  to  grave  suspicion, 
and  the  British  Consuls  at  Erzrum  and  Van  were  instructed 
to  watch  its  course  carefully.  This  suspicion  was  increased 
by  the  fact  that  the  Turkish  commander  was  decorated,  and 
notwithstanding  the  repeated  efforts  of  the  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment  to  prevent  the  spread  of  news,  the  worst  reports  as  to 
the  massacres  were  confirmed  all  over  the  empire.  At  the 
same  time  the  Turkish  Government  invited  an  American 
representative  to  attend  the  commission.  President  Cleveland 
declined  to  do  this,  but  after  negotiations  with  England  de¬ 
cided  to  send,  as  an  independent  investigator,  Consul  Jewett, 
of  Sivas.  To  this,  however,  the  Turkish  Government  objected, 
and  refused  to  give  him  the  traveling  papers. 

As  matters  became  more  clearly  understood,  reports  were 
spread  of  a  separate  commission  to  represent  England,  Rus¬ 
sia,  Austria,  France  and  probably  Germany,  entirely  apart 
from  the  commission  appointed  by  the  Turkish  Government. 
This  general  intensity  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  Europe 
aroused  considerable  anxiety  among  the  Turks,  and  the  re¬ 
sult  was  that  a  commission  was  at  last  appointed  with  regu¬ 
lar  representatives  of  the  different  European  Powers  to  at¬ 
tend  it  and  insure  that  its  investigations  were  carried  on  in 
an  impartial  and  thorough  manner.  The  anxiety,  however, 
was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  government.  Throughout 
the  empire  word  had  been  spread  among  the  Moslems  that 
the  Christians,  backed  by  the  European  Governments,  were 
planning  the  overthrow  of  the  Sultan.  At  the  same  time 
the  Huntchagists  redoubled  their  efforts.  They  evidently 
felt  that  a  point  had  been  reached  at  which  they  might  make 
a  strike.  The  result  was  that  disturbances  were  reported 
from  the  whole  region  of  Western  Turkey,  especially  in  the 


NEW  PLAN  OF  GOVERNMENT. 


386 

vicinity  of  Zeitun,  Marash  and  Adana.  Destructive  fires 
were  started  in  several  cities.  The  Moslems  charged  it  upon 
the  Armenians,  the  Armenians  retorted  the  charge  upon  the 
Moslems,  and  the  situation  rapidly  grew  more  intense  even 
than  it  had  been  before.  The  next  step  of  the  Turkish  Gov¬ 
ernment  was  to  announce  that  a  new  plan  of  government 
had  been  adopted  for  the  districts  of  Erzrum,  Van,  Bitlis 
and  Mush.  These  four  were  to  be  made  a  single  province 
with  a  Mussulman  governor  appointed  for  five  years,  to  be 
succeeded  by  Christians,  who,  however,  were  not  to  be  Ar¬ 
menians.  The  gendarmerie  were  to  be  recruited  from  the 
district  and  commanded  by  a  general  named  by  the  Sultan  ; 
local  revenues  were  to  be  retained  by  the  provinces  except 
one  annual  contribution  to  the  Porte ;  judges  were  to  be 
elected  and  local  ministries  of  education  and  public  works 
were  to  be  formed.  This  was  largely  as  the  result  of  the 
intense  feeling  roused  in  England,  which  was  expressed  by 
Mr.  Gladstone  in  response  to  a  deputation  of  Armenians  from 
Paris  and  London  on  his  eighty-fifth  birthday,  December  29, 
1894. 

“The  history  of  Turkey  has  been  a  sad  and  painful  history. 
That  race  has  not  been  without  remarkable,  and  even  in  some 
cases,  fine  qualities,  but  from  too  many  points  of  view  it  has 
been  a  scourge  to  the  world,  made  use  of,  no  doubt,  by  a  wise 
Providence  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  If  these  tales  of  mur¬ 
der,  violation  and  outrage  be  true,  then  it  will  follow  that 
they  cannot  be  overlooked,  and  they  cannot  be  made  light  of. 
I  have  lived  to  see  the  Empire  of  Turkey  in  Europe  reduced 
to  less  than  one-half  of  what  it  was  when  I  was  born,  and 
why  ?  Simply  because  of  its  misdeeds — a  great  record  written 
by  the  hand  of  Almighty  God,  in  whom  the  Turk,  as  a  Mo- 


Gladstone’s  views. 


387 


hammedan,  believes,  and  believes  firmly- — written  by  the  hand 
of  Almighty  God  against  injustice,  against  lust,  against  the 
most  abominable  cruelty;  and  if — and  I  hope,  and  I  feel  sure, 
that  the  government  of  the  Queen  will  do  everything  that 
can  be  done  to  pierce  to  the  bottom  of  this  mystery,  and  to 
make  the  facts  known  to  the  world — if,  happily — I  speak 
hoping  against  hope — if  the  reports  we  have  read  are  to  be 
disproved  or  to  be  mitigated,  then  let  us  thank  God ;  but  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  be  established,  then  I  say  it  will  more 
than  ever  stand  before  the  world  that  there  is  no  lesson,  how¬ 
ever  severe,  that  can  teach  certain  people  the  duty,  the  pru¬ 
dence,  the  necessity  of  observing  in  some  degree  the  laws  of 
decency,  and  of  humanity,  and  of  justice,  and  that  if  allega¬ 
tions  such  as  these  are  established,  it  will  stand  as  if  it  were 
written  with  letters  of  iron  on  the  records  of  the  world,  that 
such  a  government  as  that  which  can  countenance  and  cover 
the  perpetration  of  such  outrages  is  a  disgrace  in  the  first 
place  to  Mohammed,  the  Prophet  whom  it  professes  to  follow, 
that  it  is  a  disgrace  to  civilization  at  large,  and  that  it  is  a 
curse  to  mankind.  Now,  that  is  strong  language. 

“  Strong  language  ought  to  be  used  when  facts  are  strong, 
and  ought  not  to  be  used  without  strength  of  facts.  I  have 

o  o 

counselled  you  still  to  retain  and  to  keep  your  judgment  in 
suspense,  but  as  the  evidence  grows  and  the  case  darkens, 
my  hopes  dwindle  and  decline;  and  as  long  as  I  have  a  voice, 
I  hope  that  voice,  upon  occasion,  will  be  uttered  on  behalf 
of  humanity  and  truth.” 

Soon  after  came  the  formation  of  a  commission,  which  was, 
however,  so  constituted  as  not  to  inspire  the  greatest  confi¬ 
dence,  the  foreign  representatives  not  being  of  high  rank. 
However,  it  was  better  than  nothing,  and  the  general  feeling 
23 


388 


DISCOVERIES  BY  THE  COMMISSION. 


was  that  its  report  would  be  awaited  with  interest.  Mean¬ 
while  there  came  notices  of  disturbance  elsewhere.  There 
was  a  rising  of  the  Christians  in  Albania,  and  considerable 
trouble  in  Bulgaria,  where  the  Russian  power  was  made 
manifest  by  the  appearance  upon  the  scene  of  Mr.  Zankoff, 
who  had  been  practically  an  exile  for  some  time.  The  com¬ 
mission  had  started,  and  by  the  middle  of  February  was 
thoroughly  established  in  its  work  in  Mush.  On  its  way  to 

S>  J  ...  A  1 

that  place  it  made  some  interesting  discoveries.  At  the 
village  of  Bulanik  some  of  the  Armenian  villagers  came  to 
the  European  members  and  reported  that  Turkish  soldiers 
were  at  that  time  engaged  in  extorting  money  from  villagers 
by  threats  of  reporting  them  as  rebels.  The  commission  sent 
a  polite  invitation  to  the  commander,  asking  him  to  come 
and  answer  a  few  questions.  Instantly  the  whole  body  fled 
in  every  direction,  evidently  supposing  that  they  would  not 
be  interfered  with.  This  was  a  fair  illustration  of  the  kind 
of  extortion  carried  on  through  the  whole  of  Eastern  Tur¬ 
key.  Those  who  made  any  difficulty  were  imprisoned,  until 
it  was  said  that  there  was  scarcely  a  single  Armenian  of 
prominence  in  the  city  of  Bitlis  who  was  not  in  prison, 
while  Armenian  ecclesiastics  of  every  grade  were  arrested. 
This  fact  also  illustrates  the  nature  of  the  charges  of  the 
government  with  regard  to  insurrection  among  the  Arme¬ 
nians.  At  Khnus  the  commission  found  some  genuine  refu¬ 
gees  whom  they  took  along  with  them  to  Mush. 

At  the  same  time  attention  was  diverted  to  the  region  of 
Marash,  so  far  as  appears,  there  was  no  special  charge  of 
insurrection,  but  a  general  uprising.  The  houses  of  the 
American  missionaries  were  entered  by  force  and  searched  for 
arms,  which  naturally  they  did  not  find.  Complaint  was  sent 


MURDERS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


3«9 


to  Constantinople  and  demands  were  made  through  the 
American  Legation  for  protection.  Similarly  at  Nicomedia  a 
.French  Catholic  complained  that  his  domicile  had  been  vio¬ 
lated  and  that  he  himself  had  been  arrested  by  the  Turks. 
The  French  ambassador,  standing  firm  upon  the  capitulations 
accorded  to  his  government,  demanded  the  removal  of  the 
governor,  the  punishment  of  the  officers  and  a  public  apology 
to  the  priest.  The  Turks  objected,  but  finally  yielded.  Even 
Constantinople  was  not  safe.  An  American  citizen  passing 
through  the  streets,  only  a  short  distance  from  the  Sultan’s 
palace,  was  stabbed  and  killed  by  a  Turkish  soldier,  who  had 
also  seriously  wounded  sixteen  others.  A  day  or  two  later 
another  Turk  in  a  theatre  got  into  a  quarrel  with  an  English¬ 
man  and  endeavored  to  kill  him.  The  Englishman  escaped, 
but  a  student  friend  who  rose  to  defend  him,  was  struck 
down  with  a  single  blow  of  the  Turk’s  knife.  The  chief 
value  of  these  incidents  was  that  the  government  made  every 
effort  to  excuse  the  criminals,  and  would  give  no  punishment 
except  under  pressure.  The  official  statement  as  to  the  man 
who  murdered  the  American  was,  that  the  soldier  had  got 
into  a  quarrel  with  one  of  his  comrades  and  merely  stabbed 
the  sixteen  Christians  on  the  supposition  that  they  were  try¬ 
ing  to  catch  him.  The  absurdity  of  this  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  one  of  them  was  an  Armenian  girl,  standing  on  the 
steps  of  her  own  home  ;  another  was  a  milkman,  whom  the 
soldier  asked,  “Are  you  a  Christian  or  a  Moslem  ?  ”  and  on 
being  told  that  he  was  a  Moslem  let  him  go. 

For  some  weeks  there  was  no  special  change  in  the  situa¬ 
tion,  though  the  relations  between  Turks  and  Christians  were 
constantly  more  serious,  so  that  the  council  of  the  Armenian 
Patriarchate  at  Constantinople  presented  a  memorial  to  the 


39° 


INSTANCES  OF  ILL-TREATMENT. 


Sultan,  urging  him  to  cease  the  constant  ill  treatment  which 
the  Armenians  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  Turkish  officers. 
It  was  not  surprising  that  the  memorial  was  returned  with  a 
request  that  it  be  modified  in  form.  How  needful  it  was, 
however,  was  manifest  from  the  following  facts  reported  from 
a  city  a  short  distance  from  Constantinople.  An  Armenian 
pastor  and  teacher  were  arrested  and  imprisoned  on  the 
charge  of  having  seditious  letters,  which  letters,  when  read, 
were  shown  to  be  simply  private  correspondence.  One  man 
was  imprisoned  for  two  weeks  because  his  name  suggested  a 
similarity  to  an  address  to  which  a  telegram  was  sent  saying, 
“  Come  at  once.”  An  Armenian  was  forced  to  sell  his  house 
at  only  a  trifle  over  half  value,  because  a  pasha  wanted 
it  for  one  of  his  wives.  A  traveler  happening  to  meet 
an  official  on  the  road  was  turned  back  and  impris¬ 
oned  for  a  week  on  no  charge  whatever,  and  re¬ 
leased  only  on  the  payment  of  three  Turkish  pounds. 
These  are  but  illustrations  of  what  was  going  on  near  Con¬ 
stantinople.  In  the  region  of  Dersim,  north  of  Sivas  and 
Harput,  the  Kurds  seemed  to  have  made  special  effort  to 
search  for  proofs  of  sedition.  In  two  villages  papers  were 
found  stating  that  a  certain  order  for  arms  had  been  filled  and 
forwarded.  No  weapons  were  discovered,  however,  and  sub¬ 
sequently  a  Turk  confessed  that  he  had  himself  forged  the 
papers.  Notwithstanding  this,  fifty  people,  thirty  from  one 
village,  were  imprisoned,  of  whom  a  number  died.  Every¬ 
where  throughout  Asia  Minor  the  Christians  were  in  constant 
fear  of  the  Turks,  who  were  stirred  by  their  priests  to  provide 
themselves  with  arms  in  order  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency, 
which  the  priests  assured  them  would  come  as  the  result  of 
the  efforts  of  the  Christians,  supported  by  European  powers, 


PRESSURE  FOR  REFORMS. 


391 


to  overthrow  the  Turkish  Government.  For  a  time  there 
seemed  to  be  hope  of  better  things.  The  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment  revoked  some  of  its  appointments  of  notoriously  unfit 
men,  and  the  commission  at  Mush  were  making  increasing  re¬ 
ports  of  the  situation,  which  aroused  repeated  and  indignant 
protests  throughout  Europe.  It  became  apparent  that  the 
moral  sense  of  the  Christian  Powers  was  awake,  and  the 
Porte  understood  very  well  that  that  could  not  be  ignored. 
The  British  Government  had  definitely  announced  its  inten¬ 
tion  to  secure  protection  for  Christians  throughout  the 
empire.  At  the  same  time  United  States  cruisers  arrived  on 
the  coast,  and  in  interviews  with  the  Turkish  governors  made 
it  very  apparent  that  protection  to  Americans  must  be  se¬ 
cured.  The  immediate  result  of  this  was  the  release  of  a 
laree  number  of  ecclesiastics  who  had  been  confined  in  vari- 
ous  fortresses,  and  who,  though  for  some  time  under  surveil¬ 
lance  in  Constantinople,  were  practically  at  liberty.  The 
summer  thus  passed  by  with  a  generally  better  condition  and 
there  were  strong  hopes  that  reforms  would  actually  be  insti¬ 
tuted,  especially  as  reports  came  that  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Russia  had  united  in  a  joint  note  to  the  Porte,  stating  the 
reforms  which  they  insisted  upon  for  the  better  conduct  of 
the  government  in  the  interior.  A  complete  statement  of 
these  reforms  is  hardly  necessary  here.  In  the  main  they  fol¬ 
lowed  the  line  of  the  different  promises  that  had  been  made 
previously.  Among  the  most  important  provisions  were  the 
following : 

“A  High  Commissioner,  appointed  with  the  assent  of  the 
Powers,  is  to  have  general  supervision  over  the  whole  empire, 
with  the  assistance  of  a  commission  sitting  in  Constantinople  ; 
the  provinces  of  Eastern  Turkey  are  to  have  Mohammedan 


392 


ANSWER  LONG  DELAYED. 


or  Christian  governors,  according  to  the  preponderance  of 
population,  the  vice-governor  to  be  of  different  faith  from  the 
governor;  taxes  are  to  be  collected  by  local  and  municipal 
agents  instead  of  by  soldiers  or  treasury  agents,  and  the 
provinces  are  to  retain  enough  funds  for  their  own  adminis¬ 
tration,  and  send  the  balance  to  Constantinople  ;  there  is  to 
be  a  general  amnesty  for  crimes  and  offences  other  than 
those  against  the  common  law;  pending  political  trials  are  to 
stop  and  the  prisoners  are  to  be  released ;  imprisonment 
without  special  warrant  is  forbidden  and  speedy  trial  assured, 
together  with  release  in  case  of  acquittal ;  the  number  of 
Christian  judges  is  to  be  increased  in  proportion  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian  population  ;  Christians  are  to  serve  equally  with  Moslems 
in  the  gendarmerie;  conversion  to  Islam  by  force  is  forbidden, 
and  general  freedom  of  religious  confession  is  to  be  secured  ; 
the  powers  of  magistrates  are  to  be  extended,  and  the 
local  courts  are  to  be  under  the  supervision  of  a  delegation 
from  the  Court  of  Appeals.” 

The  position  taken  by  the  Ottoman  Government  with  re¬ 
gard  to  these  reforms  was  not  such  as  to  inspire  much  of  hope. 
Answer  was  long  delayed  ;  furthermore,  there  was  a  chancre 
of  ministry,  the  new  Grand  Vizier  being  one  well  known  as  anti- 
English  in  his  policy  and  warmly  supporting  Russia.  The 
one  selected  as  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  was  also  president 
of  the  commission  to  investigate  the  Sassun  massacre. 

Meanwhile  trouble  had  arisen  in  Arabia,  there  being 
attacks  upon  the  English,  French  and  Russian  Consuls  at 
Jeddah.  The  whole  Moslem  world  seemed  to  be  on  the 
verge  of  an  outbreak.  The  British  Government  was  strength¬ 
ening  its  garrisons  in  the  Mediterranean  and  in  Egypt,  and 
there  was  a  very  general  belief  that  it  was  ready  to  take  ex- 


SITUATION  EXTREMELY  UNCERTAIN. 


393 


treme  steps,  even  to  the  extent  of  occupying  the  Dardanelles, 
and  perhaps  the  Bosporus  in  case  of  necessity.  At  last  the 
reply  of  the  Turkish  Government  came,  acceding  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  principle  of  control  by  the  Powers  of  the  plan  of  reforms* 
but  asking  that  the  period  be  limited  to  three  years.  As  if, 
however,  to  complicate  matters  still  more,  reports  came  of  an 
uprising  in  Macedonia.  Bulgarian  emissaries  had  apparently 
been  at  work  among  their  brethren  under  Turkish  rule,  ex. 
citing  revolt  and  urging  annexation.  The  result  was  manifest 
in  incursions  across  the  mountains,  and  notice  was  given  by 
the  Bulgarian  Government  that  it  might  be  compelled  to  take 
decisive  action  with  regard  to  the  disturbances.  Underneath 
all  this  there  was  generally  recognized  to  be  Russian,  and  per¬ 
haps  Austrian  influence,  so  that  the  general  situation  was 
uncertain  in  the  extreme. 

Just  at  this  time,  in  July,  came  the  overthrow  of  the  liberal 
government  in  England,  and  the  return  of  the  conservatives 
to  power.  Hitherto  the  conservative  policy  toward  Turkey 
had  always  been  aggressive,  and  every  one  expected  that 
tradition  would  be  respected.  In  anticipation  of  this,  the 
Sultan’s  Government  sent  conciliatory  answers  in  regard  to 
reforms,  stating  that  they  proposed  to  apply  them  to  the 
entire  empire ;  appoint  Christian  assessors  to  assist  provin¬ 
cial  governors  ;  make  the  selection  of  under-officials  from  both 
Mussulmans  and  Christians,  improve  prisons,  check  the  ex¬ 
cesses  of  Kurds,  etc.  In  Tarsus  a  mob  attacked  the  building  of 
St.  Paul’s  Institute,  and  in  other  portions  of  the  country  there 
was  manifest  a  great  deal  of  tension  of  feeling.  The  Huntcha- 
gists  again  stirred  themselves,  and  in  Marsovan  murdered  two 
prominent  Armenians,  one  a  Protestant,  the  other  a  Grego¬ 
rian.  They  also  committed  various  murders  in  Constanti- 


i 


394 


HOSTILITY  TO  THE  GOVERNMENT. 


nople,  and  threatened  the  life  of  the  Patriarch  because  he  re¬ 
fused  to  endorse  their  scheme  for  absolute  independence. 
About  this  time  also  became  increasingly  manifest  the  bitter 
feeling  on  the  part  of  the  Turks  themselves  against  their  own 
government.  Reports  spread  for  the  past  year  by  the  Moslem 
priests  that  the  Sultan’s  rule  was  in  danger,  and  that  the 
Christians  were  planning  to  overcome  the  Moslem  power, 
combined  with  the  increasing  taxation  and  the  great  injustice 
from  which  in  many  sections  of  the  empire  Moslems  suffered 
not  less  than  Christians,  stirred  the  Young  Turkey  Party  to 
an  increasing  degree  of  bitterness.  Just  to  what  extent  this 
party  was  organized  it  has  never  been  possible  to  learn  ;  that 
remains  for  the  future  historian.  It  is,  however,  a  fact  that 
everywhere  throughout  the  empire  there  was  hostility  not 
merely  against  the  Christians,  but  against  the  Turkish  Gov¬ 
ernment  for  its  failure  to  do  justice  to  the  Moslems  even  at 
the  expense  of  Christians.  Just  at  this  time  came  Mr. 
Gladstone’s  famous  address  at  Chester,  in  which  he  summed 
up  very  clearly  the  situation;  under  the  treaty  of  1856  the 
Powers  of  Europe  had  a  right,  clear  and  indisputable,  to 
march  into  the  country  and  take  the  government  of  it  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  Turks  ;  England  had  a  special  right  under 
the  treaty  of  1878  (the  Cyprus  Convention)  and  a  special 
duty,  from  the  fact  that  the  making  of  promises  in  treaties 
carries  with  it  the  obligation  to  compel  the  keeping  of  the 
promises  ;  the  whole  situation,  therefore,  he  summed  up  in  the 
three  words  :  coercion,  must  and  ought.  The  last  he  claimed 
had  absolutely  no  meaning  ;  must,  he  said,  is  fairly  understood, 
but  the  first  is  the  one  that  is  thoroughly  appreciated. 

One  of  the  first  manifestations  of  spirit  of  the  new  English 
Government  was  the  sending  of  an  English  fleet  to  the  vicin- 


THE  CITY  OF  GUMUSHKH  ANE,  on  the  road  from  Trebizond  to  Erzrum  in  Eastern  Turkey.  The  city 
derives  its  name  from  the  silver  (gumush)  mines,  from  which  ore  is  taken  for  the  artisans  in  Trebizond  and  Constanti¬ 
nople.  The  buildings  are  of  a  much  better  class  than  are  usually  to  be  found  in  Eastern  Turkey,  and  indicate  the  prosperity 
of  the  place. 


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England’s  firm  attitude. 


397 


ity  of  the  Dardanelles  and  there  was  a  general  feeling  that 
aggressiv^e  action  would  be  taken.  Here,  however,  appeared 
a  new  phase.  Having  practically  accepted  the  principle  of 
European  control,  the  Sultan  now  denounced  it,  saying  that 
it  was  derogatory  to  his  dignity  and  that  it  would  endanger 
his  own  control  over  his  empire.  In  this  connection  also  he 
made  complaint  to  France  and  Russia  of  the  position  taken 
by  England.  They  indeed  did  not  give  him  encouragement, 
but  from  this  time  it  became  questionable  whether  the  con¬ 
cert  of  the  three  Powers  which  had  been  supposed  to  be  firm 
was  really  so.  Meanwhile  relief  work  had  been  going  on 
and  a  special  commission  had  been  sent  into  Eastern  Turkey 
to  manage  the  question  of  relief.  This  will  be  referred  to 
later,  but  reference  must  be  made  to  it  here  to  show  the 
peculiar  situation  in  which  England  was  placed.  She  was 
manifesting  her  deepest  sympathy  with  the  Armenians,  was 
apparently  taking  steps  to  coerce  the  Sultan  and  had  made, 
or  was  on  the  point  of  making,  propositions  for  his  deposi¬ 
tion.  So  far  as  appears,  she  was  doing  all  that  could  pos¬ 
sibly  be  expected.  The  next  step  was  equally  strong.  It 
was  asserted  that,  in  an  interview  with  the  Turkish  ambas¬ 
sador  at  London,  Lord  Salisbury  had  announced  that  the  re¬ 
fusal  on  the  part  of  the  Turkish  Government  to  execute 
Article  61  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  would  be  the  signal  of  the 
dismemberment  of  the  empire.  This  was  indeed  denied  the 
next  day,  but  it  was  generally  believed  to  be  virtually  true, 
and  the  immediate  issuing  by  the  Sultan  of  a  note  stating 
the  concessions  he  was  willing  to  make  with  regard  to  the 
administration  of  the  eastern  provinces  of  his  empire  indi¬ 
cated  that  some  extra  pressure  had  been  brought  to  bear 
upon  him.  Those  concessions  were  not  of  remarkable  char- 


398 


INCREASING  UNEASINESS. 


acter,  merely  in  the  line  of  what  had  repeatedly  been  said 
and  repeatedly  promised.  It  was  evident,  however,  that 
there  was  increasing  uneasiness  throughout  the  empire. 
Next  came  reports  that  Russia  and  France  had  intimated 
their  acceptance  of  the  Sultan’s  proposals,  while  Great 
Britain  insisted  that  they  were  incomplete.  Fresh  outrages 
were  said  to  have  started  up  throughout  the  empire.  De¬ 
spatches  from  the  region  of  Erzingan  spoke  of  a  band  of 
brigands  attacking  a  company  of  Turkish  soldiers,  where¬ 
upon  the  authorities  decided  that  the  assailants  were  Ar¬ 
menian  revolutionaries,  and  sent  a  force  of  1,000  Turks  to 
the  Armenian  village  of  Kemakh,  the  result  being  that  five 
villages  were  pillaged,  several  thousand  persons  rendered 
homeless,  men  tortured,  women  and  children  assaulted  and 
four  monasteries  attacked.  There  were  also  reports  of  an 
organization  among  the  Turkish  minor  officials  to  attack  the 
Christians  on  every  hand  if  the  government  should  defi¬ 
nitely  accept  the  scheme  of  reforms.  For  a  couple  of  weeks 
there  was  apparent  quiet,  when  the  civilized  world  was  as¬ 
tounded  by  the  report  of  a  massacre  in  Constantinople  itself. 

The  long  delay  in  effecting  any  result  favorable  to  good 
order  in  Turkey  from  the  negotiations  respecting  reform 
gave  opportunity  for  the  Huntchagists.  At  the  same  time 
the  Turks  were  exasperated  by  the  long  continuance  of  the 
English  fleet  near  the  Dardanelles.  The  Armenians  said  that 
England  and  Russia  had  quarrelled.  The  Turks  were  in¬ 
clined  to  believe  also  that  there  was  weakness  and  fear  on 
the  part  of  the  English,  else  the  passage  of  the  Dardanelles 
would  be  risked.  Then  came  reports  of  all  sorts.  The 
Huntchagists  circulated  a  story  that  the  English  Ambassador 
desired  to  have  a  few  Armenians  killed  in  the  streets  of 


TERRIBLE  SCENES. 


399 


Constantinople  in  order  to  have  an  excuse  for  bringing  in  the 
fleet.  On  Monday,  October  ist,  a  procession  of  Armenians 
was  formed,  including  perhaps  200,  some  armed  with  revol¬ 
vers,  but  the  greater  part  entirely  peaceable  men,  and  even 
those  who  were  armed  were  for  the  most  part  ignorant  of  the 
use  of  their  weapons.  They  started  to  the  offices  of  the 
Sublime  Porte  to  present  their  petition  for  relief  from  the 
terrible  oppression  under  which  their  nation  was  suffering. 
Such  petition  was  entirely  in  accord  with  the  time-honored 
customs  of  Turkey.  It  was,  however,  not  difficult  to  give  it 
an  illegal  appearance,  and  taken  in  connection  with  various 
threats,  it  is  scarcely  surprising  that  the  Turkish  Government 
was  alarmed.  The  police  were  drawn  up  hastily  and  the 
Armenians  were  ordered  to  disperse.  In  some  way  or  other 
firing  commenced,  the  Turks  say  by  the  Armenians,  the 
Armenians  charge  it  upon  the  Turks.  There  was  an  attack 
upon  the  men  by  the  police  and  a  number  of  persons  were 
killed  before  the  procession  was  broken  up.  Once  started, 
however,  the  disturbance  was  not  easily  stopped.  It  spread 
through  different  parts  of  the  city.  The  Softas  gathered 
from  their  Mosques  and  started  on  a  riot  through  the  streets 
armed  with  clubs.  They  attacked  any  Armenians  they  could 
find,  knocking  them  down,  wounding  them  severely  and 
sometimes  killing  them ;  even  attacking  those  who  were 
already  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  police.  Through  all 
that  day  and  night  and  the  next  day  this  situation  continued. 
During  Tuesday  night  a  number  of  attacks  on  Armenians  in 
their  lodging-places  were  made  and  from  70  to  80  were  thus 
killed  in  cold  blood.  The  whole  number  of  killed  is 
estimated  at  about  200  and  most  of  them  absolutely  innocent 
of  any  action  hostile  to  the  government.  The  Turks,  how- 


400 


TAKING  REFUGE  IN  CHURCHES. 


ever,  were  thirsting  for  Christian  blood  and  the  Armenians 
were  in  a  panic.  The  government  sent  for  the  Armenian 
Patriarch,  but  told  him  that  none  of  his  followers  would  be 
permitted  to  accompany  him.  He  therefore  declined  the 
invitation  and  remained  at  his  palace,  where  he  was  practi¬ 
cally  imprisoned,  together  with  a  large  number  of  Armenians. 
In  the  main  streets  for  two  or  three  days  there  was  apparently 
no  difficulty,  but  on  a  side  street  it  was  not  safe  for  an 
Armenian  to  be  seen.  The  panic  spread  into  the  European 
quarter  and  21  Armenian  laborers  at  the  glass  works  in 
Pera  were  killed.  Multitudes  took  refuge  in  the  churches, 
and  in  one  case  an  effort  was  made  to  break  through  the 
walls,  apparently  to  allow  the  Moslems  free  entrance  to  the 
church.  Under  the  lead  of  the  British  Ambassador  the 
foreign  representatives  acted  promptly.  The  Dragoman  of 
the  English  Embassy,  under  orders  from  Sir  Philip  Currie, 
visited  the  patriarchate  to  express  sympathy  with  the 
Armenians.  Sir  Philip  insisted  upon  the  prompt  acceptance 
of  the  scheme  of  reforms  and  demanded  that  every  effort  be 
made  to  restore  order.  For  several  days,  however,  it  was 
impossible  to  persuade  the  terror-stricken  Armenians  to  leave 
the  churches  where  they  were  taking  refuge,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  ambassadors  sent  their  own  officials  to  the  churches, 
giving  their  personal  pledges  for  safety,  that  the  churches 
were  cleared  and  quiet  was  re-established  in  the  city.  Just 
at  this  time  there  came  a  chancre  in  the  crovernment  and  Said 
Pasha  gave  place  to  Kiamil  Pasha,  one  of  the  ablest  states¬ 
men  Turkey  has  ever  known,  and  who  was  identified  with  the 
best  interests  of  the  empire.  This,  however,  was  attended 
by  the  sending  to  the  Softas  from  the  Sultan’s  palace  of 
several  hundred  sheep  and  a  quantity  of  delicacies  as  a 


RESULT  OF  THE  DISTURBANCE.  40I 

reward  for  their  loyalty.  The  flame  once  started  in  Constanti¬ 
nople,  spread  rapidly  throughout  the  empire.  The  record  of 
the  massacres  is  contained  in  the  following  chapters.  We 
confine  ourselves  here  to  a  general  survey  of  the  political 
events  following,  until  March,  1896. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  disturbance  at  Constantinople 
politically  was  the  approval  and  signing  by  the  Sultan  of  the 
scheme  approved  by  the  embassies  for  reforms  in  Turkey 
by  the  Sultan.  This  aroused  great  opposition  among  the 
Moslems  in  Constantinople  and  corresponding  delight 
throughout  the  empire.  It  was  not  certain,  however,  what 
the  general  result  would  be.  The  Sultan  claimed  that  it  was 
done  under  compulsion  and  evidently  cared  very  little  about 
the  reforms  being  carried  out.  At  the  same  time  came 
threats  of  the  assassination  of  the  Sultan  on  the  part  of  the 
Albanian  guards  in  the  palace,  and  the  general  situation  in 
the  capital  being  serious,  the  embassies  made  a  demand  for 
additional  guardships  for  their  own  protection  and  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  the  foreign  residents.  Further  than  this  there  was 
no  indication  of  positive  action  on  the  part  of  the  European 
Powers,  and  the  conviction  grew  rapidly  that  a  breach  had 
formed  between  Russia  and  England  and  that  nothing  prac¬ 
tical  would  be  done.  With  the  constantly  repeated  reports 
of  massacres  throughout  the  empire  and  the  increased  de¬ 
mands  of  the  foreign  Powers  came  another  change  in  the 
ministry.  Kiamil  Pasha  was  summarily  and  very  harshly 
dismissed  and  ordered  to  Aleppo.  He  appealed  for  protec¬ 
tion  to  the  ambassadors  and  receiving  some  support  was 
sent  to  Aldin,  a  more  favorable  post. 

The  most  significant  item  in  the  early  part  of  November 
was  a  speech  by  Lord  Salisbury,  at  the  Lord  Mayor  s  bam 


402 


CONDITION  OF  CHAOS. 


quet,  in  which  he  expressed  the  hope  that  the  Sultan  would 
grant  justice  to  the  Armenians  and  secure  their  prosperity, 
peace  and  safety,  but  intimated  very  clearly  that  if  he  did 
not,  it  would  be  the  ruin  of  his  empire.  The  fact  that  this 
was  coincident  with  the  sending  of  the  French  Mediter¬ 
ranean  squadron  to  the  Levant  and  the  massing  of  the  Rus¬ 
sian  troops  through  the  Caucasus,  gave  an  impression  that 
positive  intervention  was  nearer  than  at  any  time  before. 
It  was  asserted  in  the  English  papers  that  a  joint  ultimatum 
would  be  presented  to  the  Sultan  transferring  the  internal 
government  to  persons  trusted  by  the  Powers,  and  that  in 
case  of  refusal  the  combined  squadrons  would  advance  on 
Constantinople.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Sultan  was  reported 
as  terrified  at  the  increasing  bitterness  against  him  on  the 
part  of  the  Turks;  as  improving  every  opportunity  to  deco¬ 
rate  and  advance  men  who  had  been  identified  with  the  out¬ 
rages,  and  in  general  as  holding  an  attitude  of  defiance.  The 
time  passed  by,  however,  with  no  positive  action.  News 
came  of  massacres  at  Harput,  Marash,  Aintab  and  elsewhere, 
with  increasing  proofs  of  the  complicity,  to  say  the  least,  of 
the  Turkish  authorities.  The  man  who  was  more  than  any 
other  identified  with  the  worst  oppression  in  the  province  of 
Van  was  made  governor  of  Aleppo,  and  there  seemed  to 
be  on  every  side  a  condition  of  chaos.  Some  defended  the 
Sultan,  claiming  that  while  he  would  be  glad  to  stop  the  dis¬ 
turbances,  he  was  powerless,  the  movement  having  become 
a  popular  movement  and  having  gone  clear  beyond  any 
ability  of  his  to  check  it.  The  next  phase  was  the  discus¬ 
sion  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  the  guardships.  The  de¬ 
mand  was  entirely  within  the  rights  of  the  embassies,  but 
the  Sultan  hesitated  on  the  ground  that  it  would  exasperate 


FLIGHT  OF  SAID  PASHA. 


403 


the  Moslem  communities,  and  the  European  Governments 
hesitated  to  press  the  point.  The  result  was,  that  more  and 
more  it  became  evident  that  there  was  on  the  one  hand  no 
cordial,  united  action  between  the  European  Governments, 
and  on  the  other  that  the  disturbances  throughout  the  empire 
were  under  the  direct  orders  of  the  Turkish  Government.  A 
significant  event  was  the  fleeing  of  the  ex-Grand  Vizier,  Said 
Pasha,  to  the  British  Embassy  for  protection,  on  the  ground 
that  his  life  was  in  danger.  He  was  kept  there  for  some 
time  and  only  left  on  specific  assurance  from  the  Sultan  him¬ 
self.  Meanwhile  on  every  hand  reports  of  the  situation  in  the 
interior  increased  in  seriousness,  but  the  government  persist¬ 
ently  denied  them  and  spread  the  most  atrocious  lies  with 
regard  to  the  whole  state  of  the  country  ;  declared  that  in 
every  case  the  Armenians  had  risen  in  defiance  of  the  Turk¬ 
ish  Government,  and  that  where  massacre  had  been  reported 
there  was  simply  a  little  disturbance. 

The  close  of  the  year  1895  found  everything  in  the  empire 
in  a  state  of  uncertainty.  The  fleets  had  withdrawn,  and 
there  seemed  to  be  no  plan  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  various 
Powers,  while  the  Turkish  Government  was  doing  its  best  by 
repeated  falsehoods  to  arouse  the  Moslem  populace  to  a  high 
pitch  of  exasperation.  At  the  same  time  the  Turkish  army 
was  suffering  from  lack  of  pay,  soldiers  not  receiving  their 
wages  and  having  no  clothing  or  adequate  food.  A  revolt  of 
the  Druzes  in  Syria  called  a  large  number  of  troops  to  the 
south,  but  it  was  difficult  to  secure  military  discipline  among 
them.  Meanwhile  the  widespread  destitution  resulting  upon 
the  massacres  had  called  the  earnest  attention  of  Europe  and 
of  America,  and  appeals  were  made  for  assistance.  This  was 
at  first  refused  by  the  Turkish  Government,  which  would  not 


404 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION. 


even  permit  the  Red  Cross  to  enter  the  country,  claiming  that 
there  was  no  war  and  no  necessity ;  that  the  story  of  sufferings 
had  been  greatly  exaggerated,  and  that  the  whole  thing  was 
the  direct  result  of  Armenian  revolution.  The  month  of 
January  passed  without  any  special  change.  The  guardships 
were  admitted,  but  the  long  delay  had  deprived  the  matter  of 
any  great  significance.  Then  came  reports  of  the  secret 
treaty  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  by  which  Russia  would 
guarantee  the  Sultan’s  Government  and  in  turn  receive  free 
passage  for  her  fleets  through  the  straits,  which  would  be 
closed  by  Turkey  to  other  nations.  These  reports  were 
officially  denied,  but  it  was  generally  believed  that  there  was 
basis  for  them.  Early  in  February  the  report  of  the  com¬ 
mission  investigating  the  massacre  at  Sassun  were  issued. 
The  actual  statements  confirmed  the  story  of  the  outrages, 
showed  that  no  steps  were  taken  by  troops  to  stop  the  Kurds, 
that  in  fact  the  soldiers  and  Kurds  alike  were  the  authors  of 
the  burning  of  entire  villages ;  they  also  showed  that  there 
was  no  proof  of  revolt  on  the  part  of  the  Armenians.  In  the 
middle  of  February,  Parliament  assembled,  and  in  the  speech 
from  the  throne,  which  sets  forth  the  general  policy  of  the 
government,  was  the  following  clause  in  reference  to  Turkey: 

The  Sultan  of  Turkey  has  sanctioned  the  principal  reforms 
in  the  government  of  the  Armenian  provinces,  for  which, 
jointly  with  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  the  President  of  the 
French  Republic,  I  have  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  press.  I 
deeply  regret  the  fanatical  outbreak  on  the  part  of  a  section 
of  the  Turkish  population  which  has  resulted  in  a  series  of 
massacres  which  have  caused  the  deepest  indignation  in  this 
country.’' 

This  clause  aroused  very  strong  criticism  by  the  liberals, 


RUSSIAN  AND  FRENCH  OPPOSITION. 


405 


but  Lord  Salisbury  claimed  that  it  was  impossible  for  the 
government  to  have  done  more,  and  intimated  distinctly  that 
Russia  and  France  had  refused  to  co-operate,  and  had  dis¬ 
tinctly  said  that  they  would  resist  any  attack  on  the  part  of 
England  to  bring  coercion  to  bear  on  the  Turkish  Empire. 


24 


> 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Massacres  at  Trebizond  and  Erzrum. 

Importance  and  General  Prosperity  of  Both  Cities — Threats  by  the  Turks — Terror  Among 
the  Armenians — Suddenness  of  the  Attacks — Murder  and  Pillage  by  Regular  Soldiers, 
Under  the  Eye  of  Foreign  Consuls — Ferocity  of  the  Turks — Testimony  of  Eye-Witnesses— 
Terrible  Scenes  at  the  Burial  of  the  Victims. 

THE  city  of  Trebizond  is  one  of  the  most  beautifully 
situated  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  On  the  eastern  end  of 
the  Black  Sea,  occupying  the  southern  slope  of  a  picturesque 
range  of  mountains,  which  extends  all  the  way  from  Constan¬ 
tinople  to  the  Persian  border,  it  has  been  since  the  time  of 
Xenophon  one  of  the  most  important  places  of  the  region. 
For  centuries  it  was  the  starting-point  of  caravans  to  Persia, 
and  all  the  Persian  trade  passed  through  its  harbor,  notwith¬ 
standing  that  that  scarcely  deserved  the  name,  being  little 
more  than  an  open  roadstead.  The  city  itself  has  grown  far 
beyond  the  original  bounds,  and  there  has  seemed  to  be  less 
of  that  fear  which  compelled  the  crowding  together  of  the 
houses.  Up  the  valleys  of  the  mountains,  and  along  the  coast 
on  either  side,  there  extend  gardens  and  vineyards,  with 
many  pleasant  residences.  Its  population  of  about  45,000  is 
divided  between  Turks,  Armenians  and  Greeks,  the  Turks 
being  in  a  bare  majority,  and  the  Armenians  somewhat  out¬ 
numbering  the  Greeks.  There  are  also  consular  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  principal  European  countries,  as  well  as  of  the 
United  States.  Up  till  within  a  few  years  trade  has  been 

brisk  and  the  people  acquired  a  reputation  throughout  the 
(406) 


COMMERCIAL  INFLUENCE. 


.  407 


East  for  shrewdness  of  dealing.  After  the  treaty  of  Berlin, 
and  the  occupation  of  Batum  by  the  Russians,  considerable 
trade  that  had  formerly  passed  through  Trebizond  was  di¬ 
verted  to  Batum,  and  the  wagons  of  the  Circassians  took  the 
place  of  the  mule  and  horse  caravans  of  the  overland  route 
by  way  of  Erzrum  and  Van.  An  effort  was  made  to  relieve 
the  situation  by  the  building  of  a  very  good  carriage  road 
over  the  mountain,  south  to  Erzrum,  a  distance  of  about 
180  miles.  But  the  increasing  disturbances  in  the  region 
of  Van,  and  over  the  mountains  to  Khoi  and  Tabriz  proved 
more  than  an  offset  for  the  building  of  the  road,  and  trade 
once  diverted  could  to  only  a  limited  degree  be  brought 
back  again  into  the  old  channel.  Thus  Trebizond  has  lost 
not  a  little  of  its  importance.  It  is  still,  however,  a  city 
of  considerable  influence  and  its  people  are  looked  upon 
with  more  or  less  suspicion  by  the  Turkish  Government.  Its 
proximity  to  Russia  brought  it  within  reach  of  the  Russian 
Armenian  agitators,  and  although  the  general  tone  of  the 
Armenian  community  was  thoroughly  conservative  there  was 
sufficient  noise  made  to  create  an  impression  of  disturbance. 
The  events  in  Constantinople  narrated  in  the  previous  chapter 
created  excitement  all  over  the  empire,  and  it  was  natural  that 
in  Trebizond  the  feeling  should  be  quite  intense. 

About  October  2d,  two  days  after  the  disturbance  in  Con¬ 
stantinople,  an  Armenian,  supposed  to  be  a  revolutionist,  made 
a  personal  attack  upon  Bahri  Pasha,  the  former  governor  of 
Van,  who  had  been  dismissed  in  consequence  of  the  pressure 
brought  to  bear  by  the  English  Government  after  the  disturb¬ 
ances  at  Sassun.  It  was  said  that  the  attack  was  purely  a 
personal  matter,  the  man  seeking  vengeance  for  injustice 
done  to  himself  and  his  family  in  the  city  of  Van.  The 


DISTURBANCE. 


408  . 

Turks,  however,  took  for  granted  that  it  was  another  move  in 
the  same  line  as  that  at  Constantinople  and  the  disturbances 
early  in  the  year  at  Marsovan.  Coincident  with  this  was  the 
arrival  of  the  news  from  Constantinople  and  the  excitement 
on  every  hand  was  greatly  increased.  The  Turks  seemed  to 
believe  that  all  the  Armenians  were  banded  together  and  in 
armed  rebellion  against  the  government,  represented  that 
they  were  afraid  of  an  attack  from  the  Armenians,  and 
even  in  some  cases  took  measures  to  put  their  families  in 
places  of  safety. 

On  Friday  night,  October  4th,  there  were  extensive  move¬ 
ments  of  armed  men  on  the  streets.  At  about  1 1  o’clock 
they  seemed  to  disperse  and  nothing  specially  worthy  of  men¬ 
tion  occurred  through  the  night.  On  Saturday  night,  Oct. 
5th>  the  excitement  in  town  was  very  intense.  The  European 
Consuls  had  a  consultation  and  going  in  a  body  to  the  gover¬ 
nor,  earnestly  pressed  him  to  arrest  those  who  were  exciting 
the  people  to  acts  of  outrage.  This  he  declined  to  do, 
but  promised  in  his  own  way  to  do  the  right  thing.  Until 
Monday,  Oct.  7th,  matters  seemed  to  be  quieting  down  when 
an  incident  stirred  up  the  excitement  anew.  On  the  previous 
Friday  night,  the  son  of  a  leading  Turk  of  the  town  was 
wounded  on  the  street,  some  say  by  one  of  his  companions, 
others  that  he  was  shot  by  an  Armenian  whom  he  was  trying 
to  arrest.  On  Monday  he  died  and  the  funeral  revived 
the  excitement  in  an  intensified  form,  and  loud  and  many  were 
the  threats  of  massacre  that  night,  and  hundreds  of  the 
Armenians  rushed  to  places  of  safety.  Nothing  occurred, 
perhaps,  on  account  of  rain.  The  next  morning,  October  8th, 
all  dispersed  in  the  hope  that  the  danger  was  past.  Men 
went  to  their  shops,  and  were  encouraged  to  open  them 


INHUMAN  BUTCHERIES. 


409 


as  they  had  not  done  for  two  or  three  previous  days.  Sud¬ 
denly,  like  a  clap  of  thunder  in  a  clear  sky,  the  blow  fell  at 
about  11  a.  m.,  Oct.  8th.  Unsuspecting  people  walking  along 
the  streets  were  shot  ruthlessly  down.  Men  standing  or 
sitting  quietly  at  their  shop  doors  were  instantly  dropped  with 
a  bullet  through  their  heads  or  hearts.  Their  aim  was  deadly 
and  there  were  few,  if  any,  wounded  men.  Some  were  slashed 
with  swords  until  life  was  extinct.  They  passed  through 
the  quarters  where  only  old  men,  women  and  children  re¬ 
mained,  killing  the  men  and  large  boys,  generally  permitting 
the  women  and  younger  children  to  live.  For  five  hours  this 
horrid  work  of  inhuman  butchery  went  on,  the  cracking 
of  musketry,  sometimes  like  a  volley  from  a  platoon  of 
soldiers,  but  more  often  single  shots  from  near  and  distant 
points,  the  crashing  in  of  doors,  and  the  thud,  thud,  of  sword 
blows  sounded  on  the  ear. 

Then  the  sound  of  musketry  died  away  and  the  work 
of  looting  began.  Every  shop  of  an  Armenian  in  the  market 
was  gutted,  and  the  victors  in  this  cowardly  and  brutal  war 
loaded  themselves  with  the  spoils.  For  hours  bales  of  broad¬ 
cloth,  cotton  goods  and  every  conceivable  kind  of  merchandise 
passed  along  without  molestation  to  the  houses  of  the  spoil¬ 
ers.  The  intention  evidently  was  to  impoverish,  and  as  near 
as  possible  to  blot  out  the  Armenians  of  the  city.  So  far  as  ap¬ 
pearances  went  the  police  and  soldiers  distinctly  aided  in  this 
savage  work.  They  were  mingled  with  the  armed  men,  and  so 
far  as  could  be  seen,  made  not  the  least  effort  to  check  them. 
Apparently  they  took  care  to  see  that  the  right  ones — that  is, 
Armenians,  were  killed  ;  also  that  an  offer  of  surrender  might 
be  made  to  all  that  were  found  unarmed.  To  any  found  with 
arms  no  quarter  was  given,  but  large  numbers  were  shot 


4 IO  MASSACRES  SPREADING  TO  VILLAGES. 

down  without  any  proffer  of  this  kind.  This  talk  of  surrender 
would  seem  to  be  on  the  supposition  that  all  were  in  an  attitude 
of  resistance.  One  poor  fellow  when  called  on  to  surrender, 
thought  he  was  called  on  to  give  up  his  religion,  and  when  he 
refused  he  was  hacked  to  pieces  in  the  presence  of  his 
wife  and  children.  The  next  day  the  city  was  in  a  great  stir 
because  news  had  come  that  the  village  Armenians,  thoroughly 
armed,  were  on  their  way  to  attack  the  town.  The  real  fact, 
however,  seemed  to  be  that  the  massacre  was  extending 
to  the  villages,  though  the  constant  effort  was  to  show  that 
this  affair  was  only  the  quelling  of  an  insurrection — like 
Sassun.  Not  one  of  the  perpetrators  of  these  outrages  was 
arrested  or  disarmed,  but  all  moved  about  with  the  utmost 
freedom  to  accomplish  their  nefarious  purposes.  On  the 
other  hand  many  of  the  Armenians  were  in  prison. 

The  following  account  of  the  experience  of  an  agent  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  who  had  been  in  the  service  for 

many  years,  and  was  a  most  valued  man,  will  give  an  idea 
of  the  situation. 

Krikor  was  at  the  government  building,  getting  his  pass¬ 
port  to  return,  when  the  massacre  began.  He  was  with  three 
others,  and  when  the  soldiers  endeavored  to  put  them  out  into 
the  street,  he  refused  to  go,  showing  his  special  passport  from 
Constantinople  as  a  reason  why  he  should  not  go.  Two 
of  his  companions  were  instantly  killed;  the  third  was  saved 
by  Greeks  who  hid  him  two  days  in  a  trough  of  bread.  But 
Krikor  was  able  to  delay  a  little  by  showing  his  passport. 
He  then  remonstrated  with  the  guard,  giving  him  at  the  same 
time  a  lira  ($4.40).  This  did  not  conquer  the  guard,  who 
still  continued  to  threaten  him.  But  a  second  lira  was  more 
effective,  and  Krikor  remained  He  demanded  to  see  the 


krikor's  THRILLING  EXPERIENCE.  41 1 

Pasha,  but  was  told  he  was  busy  at  the  telegraph  office, 
where,  in  fact,  he  remained  in  constant  communication  with 
Constantinople  during  the  entire  massacre. 

Another  guard  ordered  him  off,  and  was  bought  off  like  the 
first,  but  he  took  Krikor  into  the  court  near  the  prison. 
Here  were  soldiers  who  were  threatening  him  when  a  Turk  ap¬ 
peared  who,  though  he  did  not  know  him,  was  influenced 
by  mercy  and  immediately  took  charge  of  him.  This  Turk, 
an  official  in  the  prison,  went  with  him  to  the  “Bekje,”  a  door¬ 
keeper,  saying  to  him,  “  This  man  is  a  friend  of  mine,  a  Turk, 
but  he  resembles  an  Armenian  so  much  that  he  is  afraid  to  eo 

o 

on  the  street  lest  he  may  be  killed  ;  you  look  after  him.” 
This  the  “  Bekje  ”  did,  and  although  through  the  afternoon 
many  Turks  came  and  glared  at  him,  he  was  unmolested. 
Finally  a  clerk  who  knew  him  came  by  and  said,  “This  is  an 
infidel;  why  do  you  allow  him  to  remain  here?”  Krikor 
had  presence  of  mind  to  say,  “  No,  it  is  you  who  are  an 
infidel ;  get  out  of  here,”  and  the  man  slunk  away.  After 
dusk  the  friendly  Turk  came  again  to  him,  and  took  him  into 
the  prison,  where  he  found  a  number  of  other  Armenians, 
most  of  them  officials  in  the  Government  House.  Here 
he  guarded  them  for  two  days — false  alarms  of  death  coming 
often,  keeping  them  in  constant  fear. 

Finally,  at  night,  the  friendly  Turk  came  in  and  took  him 
out  with  him,  going  by  a  roundabout  way  to  Mr.  Parmelee’s 
house,  where  he  was  safe  under  the  American  flag.  Here  he 
remained  with  some  150  others,  for  10  days.  At  last  his 
Turkish  friend  succeeded  in  getting  him  a  passport  to  return 
to  Constantinople,  and  when  he  first  reached  home  he  could 
not  speak  a  word  for  joy.  Some  of  the  richest  Armenians  in 
Trebizond  reached  Constantinople  in  rags  and  poverty — so 


412 


MASSACRE  AT  BAIBURT. 


wretched  that  even  their  own  friends  did  not  recognize  them 
at  first. 

From  Trebizond  the  wave  of  excitement  spread  southward, 
following  the  line  of  the  road  to  Erzrum.  The  first  place 
reached  was  the  city  of  Gumushkhane,  famous  for  the  silver 
mines  from  which  it  received  its  name,  and  which  furnished 
the  ore  for  the  silversmiths  of  Trebizond  and  Constantinople. 
As  in  most  mining  districts  the  population  was  turbulent,  and 
easily  aroused.  Details  of  the  strife  are  wanting,  at  least 
such  as  furnish  the  basis  of  a  reliable  statement,  but  in  general 
it  is  known  that  the  Christian  quarter  of  the  city  was  practi¬ 
cally  destroyed. 

From  Gumushkhane  the  tide  swept  on  to  Baiburt,  a  thriv¬ 
ing  city  of  perhaps  15,000  inhabitants,  Turks  and  Armenians. 
At  Baiburt  the  road  to  Erzingan,  the  military  headquarters  for 
the  whole  region,  branches  off  from  that  to  Erzrum,  and 
another  gathers  the  trade  of  the  Valley  of  Chorok.  The 
Paiburt  Armenians  were  noted  for  their  intense  national  feel¬ 
ing  and  a  vigor  of  character  that  frequently  held  the  Turks  in 
check.  They  were  also  regarded  as  among  the  shrewdest 
and  most  unscrupulous  of  their  race.  It  was  therefore  to  be 
expected  that  the  Turks  should  take  advantage  of  the  general 
excitement  to  put  down  the  men  whom  they  hated  and  feared. 
The  outbreak  at  Gumushkhane  had  occurred  three  days  after 
the  massacre  at  Trebizond,  and  two  days  later  still  the  blow 
fell  upon  Baiburt.  Here  again  there  are  few  details  available, 
but  the  Constantinople  correspondent  of  the  London  Timesy 
who  had  the  best  sources  of  information,  estimated  the  num¬ 
ber  of  killed  at  1,000. 

After  the  disturbances  at  Trebizond  and  these  two  places, 
all  eyes  turned  to  Erzrum,  about  eighty  miles  southeast  of 


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SQUARE  OF  THE  ATMEIDAN  AND  MOSQUE  OF  ST.  SOPHIA,  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE.  On 
the  left  is  an  obelisk  from  Luxor,  Egypt,  and  on  the  right  is  the  column  of  serpents  whose  three  heads  formed  the  tripod 
in  which  the  priestess  sat  who  uttered  the  famous  oracles  in  Delphi,  Greece.  The  mosque  is  the  most  interesting  build¬ 
ing  in  Constantinople,  famous  for  its  mosaics  and  pillars,  many  of  which  came  from  the  temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus. 


ERZRUM. 


4^5 


Baiburt.  The  city  of  Erzrum  has  been  throughout  the  rule 
of  the  Turks  the  most  important  and  influential  city  of  Eastern 
Turkey.  It  has  been  a  trade  center,  being  the  meeting-place 
of  the  various  routes  from  the  eastern  end  of  the  Black  Sea 
to  Persia,  Bagdad  and  Central  Asia  Minor.  It  has  also  been 
the  seat  of  the  Governor-General  of  the  Province,  though  the 
largest  military  force  is  at  Erzingan,  about  ninety  miles  west, 
largely  on  account  of  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  mountainous 
section  occupied  by  the  Dersim  Kurds  in  order.  It  was  thus 
the  seat  of  consulates  of  the  different  European  Powers 
interested  in  Eastern  Turkey,  chiefly  England,  Russia  and 
France.  Situated  on  a  high  plateau  about  6,000  feet  above 
the  sea  and  surrounded  by  high  mountains,  the  climate  is 
very  severe  and  the  winters’  cold  and  summers’  heat  are 
intense.  Its  proximity  to  the  Russian  border  has  made  it  the 
object  of  attack  in  the  different  Russo-Turkish  wars  and  twice, 
in  1829  and  1878,  it  fell  into  Russian  hands,  being  released 
only  by  special  treaty  stipulations.  In  the  Crimean  war  it  was 
saved  by  General  Williams’s  heroic  defense  of  Kars.  Of  its 
population,  estimated  at  40,000,  the  Turks  formed  the  great 
majority,  though  the  Armenian  community  was  strong,  both 
in  numbers,  wealth  and  character. 

Next  to  Van,  Erzrum  has  been  looked  upon  by  the 
Armenians  as  belonging  peculiarly  to  them,  and  as  was  natural 
the  revolutionary  party  sought  to  exert  their  influence  in  it. 
That  they  so  signally  failed  is  but  another  proof  of  the  inhe¬ 
rent  weakness  of  the  movement  and  the  creneral  conservatism 

o 

of  the  nation  in  regard  to  aggressive  action  against  the 
Turkish  Government.  There  was,  however,  much  anxiety, 
and  the  tension  of  feeling  between  the  two  races  had  increased 
greatly.  Only  a  spark  was  needed  to  start  the  Turks,  while 


4i6 


DISTURBANCES  AT  ERZRUM. 


some  Armenians  were  doubtless  ready  to  begin,  though  in  a 
city  where  they  number  10,000  and  the  Mussulmans  30,000, 
including  a  large  number  of  soldiers,  it  was  sure  to  turn 
against  the  10,000,  who  were,  besides,  almost  all  unarmed. 
For  some  days  the  Turks  had  been  threatening  to  kill  the 
Christians.  Heroes  from  the  Trebizond  massacre,  from  the 
pillaging  at  Baiburt,  from  Erzingan  and  Kemakh,  and  from 
other  places  had  come  to  Erzrum  as  the  most  likely  place 
for  another  similar  game.  These  men  had  boasted  how 
much  they  had  got,  and  all  had  the  gold  fever. 

The  time  had  been  set  several  times,  but  nothing  had  been 
done  and  the  Armenians  had  been  induced  to  think  that  much 
of  the  threatening  was  mere  words.  The  police  patrol  was 
very  strong  and  apparently  every  means  was  used  to  preserve 
peace.  Consequently  the  Armenians  were  all  in  their  places 
when  suddenly,  shortly  after  noon  on  Wednesday,  October 

30th,  the  cry  was  raised,  “  They  have  commenced  firing  in  the 
market/’ 

A  mob  of  Turks  including  many  soldiers  was  seen  running 
towards  the  market,  firing  right  and  left  into  the  houses,  from 
a  few  of  which  the  fire  was  returned.  The  resident  American 
missionary,  Mr.  Chambers,  had  been  to  the  post-office  to  send 
a  telegram  to  Bitlis  to  the  Americans  to  say  that  all  was  right 
in  Erzrum,  and  to  inquire  how  they  were.  On  his  way  back 
through  the  long,  straggling  market  he  noticed  a  general 
uneasiness.  Then  he  passed  an  Armenian  who  was  running 
from  one  shop  to  the  other  telling  his  brethren  to  close  their 
shops  and  run,  for  the  firing  would  soon  commence.  But  he 
had  heard  such  words  as  these  so  many  times  that  he  paid  no 
particular  attention  to  them.  Farther  down  in  the  markets 
he  saw  some  shops  already  closed  and  some  being  locked 


TURKISH  OUTRAGES. 


417 


up  as  he  passed.  But  this  had  been  done  before,  and  several 
merchants  had  moved  a  large  part  of  their  best  goods  up  to 
the  mission  building  to  be  stored,  until  every  corner 
was  full.  He  passed  on,  walking  rapidly,  and  before 
the  Archbishop’s  house  he  saw  a  certain  Murad  having 
some  trouble  with  a  young  and  excited  Turk.  Evidently 
Murad  had  just  taken  away  a  dagger  from  him  and  given 
it  back  after  some  words.  Mr.  Chambers  overheard 
an  Armenian  say,  “He’s  given  it  back  to  him.”  This 
Murad,  it  was  said  on  very  good  authority,  had  killed  a 
number  of  Christians  in  the  riots  of  1890  in  Erzrum.  He 
was  a  police  officer  who  watched  every  stranger  that  came  to 
Erzrum  ;  but  on  this  occasion  he  behaved  well,  for  in  his  quar¬ 
ter,  which  was  thronged  with  Armenian  shops,  the  mob  was 
unable  to  commit  any  violence. 

Mr.  Chambers  walked  on  for  five  minutes  from  the  spot 
where  he  had  seen  Murad,  when  he  heard  shots  behind  him. 
The  people  began  to  run,  and  he  followed  suit.  Some  friends 
told  him  afterward  that  the  Turks  had  fired  at  him,  but  he  did 
not  know  whether  it  was  the  mob  or  the  soldiers.  He  met 
one  of  the  patrols  of  20  soldiers,  under  command  of  an  officer, 
who  were  supposed  to  keep  the  peace.  These  men  had  drawn 
their  revolvers  and  were  shooting  right  and  left  down  the 
street  and  into  the  windows.  The  bullets  whistled  unpleas¬ 
antly  near  to  Mr.  Chambers,  who  walked  on  until  he  was  safe 
at  his  home  in  the  mission  building.  All  this  time  a  perfect 
fusilade  was  going  on,  mostly  in  the  direction  of  the  bazaar. 
In  the  extreme  western  part  of  the  city  a  large  fire  had  broken 
out,  the  smoke  of  which  drifted  across  the  large  barracks  that 
are  situated  in  that  part  of  the  city.  There  seven  Armenians 
resisted  the  attack  of  the  soldiers,  who  fired  on  them,  riddled 


I 


1 


418 


DESTRUCTION  OF  PROPERTY. 


the  house  with  bullets,  and  then  set  fire  to  it,  and  it  continued 
to  burn  for  20  hours. 

The  attack  was  simultaneous  on  different  sections  of  the 
city  where  Armenians  resided.  Whenever  an  Armenian  ap¬ 
peared  and  the  soldiers  (who  did  by  far  the  most  of  the  kill¬ 
ing,  as  well  as  plundering)  could  get  a  shot  at  him  or  cut  him 
down  with  sword  or  dagger,  they  did  so.  The  doors  of  the 
houses  were  broken  open  by  force  and  the  contents  of  the 
houses  carried  off.  Everything  that  could  not  be  carried  off 
was  destroyed.  Boxes  and  furniture  were  broken  to  pieces. 
Pepper  and  pickles  were  mixed  with  flour  that  could  not  be 
removed,  and  the  bread,  often  the  provision  for  a  week,  was 
thrown  on  the  floor  and  stamped  to  dust.  As  if  to  be  sure 
that  it  would  not  be  eaten  by  the  hungry,  ajar  of  pickled  cab¬ 
bage,  or  something  of  that  kind,  would  be  broken  over  it  and 
trampled  into  it.  As  if  the  soldiers  could  not  carry  off  all  they 
wanted,  a  number  of  women  attended  them  and  carried  off 
the  plunder.  An  eye-witness  reports  that  in  one  street  he 
saw  some  officers  lead  a  detachment  of  soldiers  to  two  Ar¬ 
menian  houses  ;  the  commanding  officers  themselves  broke 
open  the  doors,  entered  and  looted  the  whole  house,  stripping 
it  completely.  All  through  the  afternoon  and  evening  the 
suspense  was  intense.  In  the  beautiful  moonlight  the  Turks 
could  be  seen  carrying  away  the  plunder,  while  occasionally  a 
volley  of  shots  rang  out  on  the  night  air. 

.  All  day  Thursday  the  disturbance  continued,  though  in 
somewhat  less  degree.  An  Armenian,  speaking  of  his  expe¬ 
rience  on  that  day,  said  that  in  the  morning  the  soldiers  entered 
his  house.  He  and  his  family  were  driven  out.  The  soldiers 
rifled  the  old  man’s  pockets,  took  his  watch  and  chain,  but  did 
not  harm  him.  A  soldier  on  the  roof  told  the  son  to  stand 


DEFENSELESS  PEOPLE  KILLED.  419 

still  or  he  would  shoot  him.  But  he  dodged  quickly  under 
the  lee  of  the  wall  and  ran  for  the  British  Consulate,  which  he 
succeeded  in  reaching.  Later  he  saw  the  same  soldier,  who 
had  threatened  to  shoot  him  if  he  moved,  acting  as  a  special 
guard  at  the  Italian  Consulate.  One  of  the  guard  before  the 
English  Consulate  asked  him  sarcastically,  “  Which  Consulate 
is  this  ?  ”  “  The  British,”  was  the  reply.  “  And  this  ?  ”  “  The 

Italian.”  “Well,  where’s  the  Armenian  Consulate?  You 
were  going  to  have  a  kingdom  (beylik) ;  you  got  a  ‘  beylik  ’ 
yesterday.”  In  rifling  the  village  of  Purnagaban,  a  prominent 
Armenian,  after  being  seized  by  the  soldiers,  with  the  naked 
sword  at  his  breast,  was  asked,  “  You  wanted  a  ‘  beylik  ;  ’  here’s 
your  ‘beylik.’  ”  Another  Armenian  told  how  the  soldiers  on 
Thursday  morning  had  taken  his  watch  and  rifled  his  pockets. 
The  “  dragoman  ”  of  the  British  Consulate,  who  had  gone  up 
to  the  Government  House  just  before  the  massacre  began, 
told  his  experience.  He  was  with  one  of  the  “  cavasses.” 
On  their  way  he  heard  an  officer  speak  roughly  to  an  unruly 
Turk  as  follows: — “Can’t  you  keep  quiet  now;  wait  until  it 
begins  and  then  you  can  do  what  you  like.”  In  many  places 
on  the  long  way  up  he  saw  the  soldiers  all  drawn  up  ready 
for  the  massacre.  At  the  Serai  he  found  not  an  official,  which 
was  very  remarkable  as  this  was  a  very  busy  time.  All  the 
lower  officials  were  away.  Both  he  and  the  “  cavass  ”  saw 
the  storm  brewing  and  hastened  to  return.  They  were  about 
half-way,  near  an  open  market  where  fruit  and  grain  and  wood 
are  sold,  when  the  soldiers  began  to  fire  on  the  defenseless 
people.  He  relates  that  he  saw  one  Armenian  run  up  to  a 
Turkish  officer,  throw  his  arms  round  him  and  beseech  him  to 
save  him,  but  the  officer  pushed  him  away  from  him  with  both 
hands,  drew  his  revolver,  and  shot  him.  Another,  a  black- 


4^0 


DREADFUL  SCENES  ENACTED. 


smith,  they  beat  over  the  head  with  clubs  as  he  ran  until  he 
fell,  and  then  three  soldiers  standing  within  a  few  feet  of  him 
fired  three  bullets  into  him.  One  of  them  who  looked  at  the 
body  a  moment  saw  the  convulsive  movements,  and  said  to 
his  companions,  “  Look,  the  dog  isn’t  dead  yet ;  look,  look.” 
For  two  hours  the  dragoman  saw  this  from  a  safe  place.  The 
soldiers  did  the  work,  shooting  every  Christian  they  could  see. 

In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Chambers,  with  the  English  and  Italian 
Consuls,  and  Tewfik  Bey,  of  Shakir  Pasha’s  suite,  made  a 
tour  of  the  Armenian  quarter  between  Giimruk  street  and 
the  limits  of  the  city  on  the  east.  What  they  saw  there  beg¬ 
gars  description.  A  long  large  barracks  with  a  parade  ground 
in  front  is  situated  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  street.  When 
the  massacre  began  these  soldiers  fired  volley  after  volley  into 
the  houses,  and  then  looted  them.  Those  who  had  not  es¬ 
caped  were  murdered  in  their  houses  by  the  soldiers.  In  one 
house  they  saw  two  young  brides  brutally  murdered  lying  on 
carpets  bespattered  with  blood,  disfigured,  and  almost  naked. 
In  another  house  were  two  men  butchered  in  a  barbarous 
way,  splinters  of  broken  boxes  and  doors,  windows  shattered 
to  pieces,  the  plastering  torn  and  broken,  everything  in  ruin. 

In  very  many  cases  Armenians  came  to  the  guard-houses  for 
protection,  and  almost  invariably  they  were  first  examined,  and 
then  shot  down  in  cold  blood.  Sometimes  this  was  done  to 
single  individuals,  sometimes  they  were  shot  down  in  groups. 
During  that  awful  four  hours,  the  military  gave  no  quarter  to 
men  found  in  the  shops  and  streets,  and  in  very  many  cases 
not  even  to  men  found  in  the  houses.  The  wounds  of 
the  dead  bodies  were  awful  beyond  description.  Even  the 
wounded  had  awful  wounds.  Mr.  Chambers  helped  to  dress 
the  wounds,  which  included  the  amputation  of  the  right  hand 


ONE  REDEEMING  FEATURE. 


421 


and  left  thumb,  of  a  man  who  had  sixteen.  Ten  of  them  were 
on  his  head,  all  of  them  horrible  gashes.  Another  he  helped 
to  dress,  had  three  horrible  gashes  on  his  head,  two  dagger 
wounds  in  his  back,  and  a  bullet  through  his  left  hand.  Coal 
oil  had  been  poured  on  him  preparatory  to  burning.  A  little 
nine-year  old  boy  had  his  arm  amputated.  But  this  is  enough 
to  give  an  idea  of  the  determined  onslaught.  One  soldier 
declared  that  he  used  ten  packages  of  ammunition,  each  pack¬ 
age  containing  twelve  rounds,  making  in  all  120  rounds  of 
ammunition  shot  away  by  one  man  in  four  hours. 

There  was  one  redeeming  feature.  Many  Turks  (civilians) 
rescued  Armenians  who  appealed  to  them.  They  kept  them 
in  their  houses  or  in  their  shops,  till  it  was  safe  to  send  them 
home.  In  one  instance  a  Turk  hid  an  Armenian  under  a  pile 
of  wool  in  the  Armenian’s  own  shop.  When  the  shop  was 
attacked,  the  Turk  went  in  and  helped  to  distribute  the  goods, 
trying  in  the  meantime  to  turn  the  attention  of  the  soldiers 
from  the  wool.  However,  they  demanded  the  wool,  which  he 
was  forced  to  give.  Soon  the  Armenian  began  to  appear. 
The  soldiers  were  for  shooting  him  at  once.  The  Turk  pro¬ 
tested  and  prevented  that.  Then  they  insisted  on  searching 
his  person  and  taking  his  purse  and  watch.  Then  the  Turk 
said,  “  I  am  a  Moslem.  I  have  had  no  share  in  this  plunder ; 
the  purse  and  watch  must  fall  to  me.”  The  soldiers  again 
demanded  to  kill  him.  The  Turk  whispered  something  to 
jthe  officer  in  command,  and  they  said  that  as  the  man  was 
such  a  bad  Armenian,  he  should  be  kept  for  hanging.  After 
much  persuasion  the  soldiers  consented  to  this,  so  the  Turk 
marched  off  the  Armenian  as  if  to  the  Government  House,  to 
be  kept  for  hanging.  However  he  got  him  to  a  place  of  safety, 
and  later,  restoring  his  purse  and  watch,  sent  him  home. 


422 


QUIET  RESTORED. 


A  large  number  of  Armenians  were  saved  by  the  good  will  of 
Turkish  friends.  This  is  all  the  more  remarkable  as  the 
threats  of  slaughter  against  the  Armenians  seemed  to  be 
quite  universal  on  the  part  of  the  Turks,  and  generally 
Turks  joined  with  the  soldiers  in  plundering  the  shops  of  their 
Christian  neighbors. 

By  noon  on  Thursday,  all  was  quiet  again.  The  soldiers 
were  bringing  Armenians,  who  had  managed  to  escape  the 
slaughter  by  hiding  in  all  sorts  of  places,  to  their  homes. 
Many  were  brought  to  the  Mission  House  first,  where  they 
again  saw  their  kinsfolk.  One  was  a  sick  and  poor  woman 
whose  house  had  been  entered  by  the  soldiers.  She  fell  at 
their  feet  and  besought  them  to  leave  the  few  things  she  had 
in  her  home.  One  of  the  soldiers  seized  a  “  kalian  ”  and 
struck  her  on  the  forehead,  knocking  her  senseless.  Quiet 
continued  all  day  long,  but  the  people  could  not  be  induced 
to  return  to  their  homes.  Some  went  there  to  find  everything 
cleaned  out. 

Thursday  night  passed  much  as  the  previous  night  had,  and 
Friday  morning  came.  This  was  the  Moslem  Sunday,  and 
the  terror  of  the  Armenians  was  renewed.  They  had  no  con¬ 
fidence  in  the  soldiers  at  all,  and  the  Turks,  as  well  as  the 
soldiers,  told  them  that  the  killing  would  begin  again.  Es¬ 
pecially  were  the  Bishop’s  house  and  the  Sanassarian  school 
threatened.  The  women  with  babies,  girls,  and  more  men 
flocked  to  the  mission  building  until  the  building  and  enclosed 
garden  held  little  short  of  500  frightened  people,  who  could 
not  be  induced  to  return  to  their  homes.  But  gradually  they 
ventured  to  go  to  their  homes,  and  night  found  the  crowd 
reduced  to  200.  The  Turks  made  preposterous  statements 
about  the  number  of  revolutionists,  and  arms  and  ammunition 


COWARDLY  TURKS. 


423 


hidden  in  the  Armenian  church  and  Sanassarian  school.  Ap¬ 
parently  they  had  been  too  cowardly  to  attack  the  place  with 
their  rifles,  and  now  they  threatened  to  bombard  it  from  the 
forts.  The  English  Consul  here  lent  his  good  services  as 
mediator.  The  places  were  searched  quietly  by  the  Turkish 
officials,  and,  of  course,  not  a  weapon  or  a  revolutionist  was 
found,  for  there  are  no  more  law-abiding  citizens  in  the  Otto¬ 
man  Empire  than  the  gentlemen  in  charge  of  the  Sanassarian 
school.  They  are  fine,  cultured  men,  who  desire  nothing 
more  than  peace  to  conduct  their  educational  enterprise.  In 
1890,  at  the  time  of  the  riot,  this  same  charge,  equally  un¬ 
founded,  was  made  against  them.  But  the  affair  in  that  year 
was  really  a  riot,  for  a  mob  and  not  soldiers  paraded  the 
streets,  looting  and  spoiling.  In  that  year  the  English  Consul 
lived  in  the  mission  building,  where  every  glass  was  smashed 
in  with  stones. 

It  was  natural  that  there  should  be  the  wildest  statements 
as  to  the  number  of  killed.  Some  put  it  at  2,000.  The  best 
estimate  available  makes  it  800  to  1 ,000.  Nearly  all  were  men. 
Not  a  single  dead  Turk  was  reported  or  seen.  A  dragoman 
of  one  of  the  Consulates,  who  saw  the  firing  for  two  hours  in 
the  bazaars,  said  that  all  the  soldiers  were  out,  fully  armed,  to 
the  number  of  3,000.  They  were  not  content  with  shooting 
a  man  once,  but  they  fired  at  each  one  three  and  four  times. 
He  boldly  declared  that  the  government  officials  had  ordered 
the  soldiers  to  begin  to  kill.  The  patrol  who  held  the  foot  of 
the  street  occupied  by  the  American  Mission  House  and 
several  Consulates,  deliberately  squatted  behind  a  pile  of 
newly-chopped  wood  in  front  of  the  French  Consulate  and 
put  the  entrance  to  the  Health  Office  under  fire  to  prevent 
the  Armenians  from  seeking  refuge  there.  The  English 


424 


AN  EYE-WITNESS’S  STORY. 


Consul  stopped  this,  threatening  to  fire  on  them  if  they  com 
tinued.  Both  the  English  and  French  Consuls,  whose  houses 
adjoin  each  other,  were  on  their  housetops  when  the  attack 
began,  and  found  the  bullets  whistling  so  unpleasantly  near 
that  they  deemed  it  advisable  to  go  below. 

An  eye-witness  describes  the  scene  on  Friday  afternoon  as 
most  horrible.  He  went  with  one  of  the  cavasses  of  the 
English  Legation,  a  soldier,  his  interpreter,  and  a  photogra¬ 
pher  (Armenian)  to  the  Armenian  Gregorian  Cemetery.  The 
municipality  had  sent  down  a  number  of  bodies,  friends  had 
brought  more,  and  a  horrible  sight  met  his  eyes.  Along  the 
wall  on  the  north,  in  a  row  20  feet  wide  and  150  feet  long, 
lay  321  dead  bodies  of  the  massacred  Armenians.  Many 
were  fearfully  mangled  and  mutilated.  He  saw  one  with  his 
face  completely  smashed  in  with  a  blow  of  some  heavy  weapon 
after  he  was  killed :  some  with  their  necks  almost  severed  by 
a  sword  cut;  one  whose  whole  chest  had  been  skinned  and 
his  forearms  cut  off,  while  the  upper  arm  was  skinned  of 
flesh.  He  asked  if  the  dogs  had  done  this.  “No,  the  Turks 
did  it  with  their  knives.”  A  dozen  bodies  were  half  burned. 
All  the  corpses  had  been  rifled  of  all  their  clothes  except  a 
cotton  under-garment  or  two.  These  white  under-clothes 
were  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  dead,  presenting  a  fearful 
sight.  The  faces  of  many  were  disfigured  beyond  recognition, 
and  all  had  been  thrown  down,  face  foremost,  in  the  dust  of 
the  streets  and  mud  of  the  gutters,  so  that  all  were  black  with 
clotted  blood  and  dust.  Some  were  stark  naked,  and  every 
body  seemed  to  have  at  least  two  wounds,  and  some  a  dozen. 
In  this  list  of  dead  there  were  only  three  women,  two  babies, 
a  number  of  young  children,  and  about  thirty  young  men  of 
15  to  20. 


HORRIBLE  ATROCITIES. 


425 


A  crowd  of  a  thousand  people,  mostly  Armenians,  watched 
him  taking  photographs  of  their  dead.  Many  were  weeping 
beside  their  dead  fathers  or  husbands.  The  Armenian  pho¬ 
tographer  saw  two  children,  relatives  of  his,  among  the  dead. 
Some  Armenian  workmen  were  engaged  excavating  a  deep 
trench  twenty  feet  square,  close  by,  to  bury  the  corpses. 
Here,  too,  was  a  peculiar  scene.  The  space  of  this  trench 
contained  many  graves,  and  on  one  side  were  a  number  of 
skulls,  perhaps  twenty  in  all,  and  a  pile  of  bones  found  in  the 
excavating.  He  left  the  sad  sight  sick  at  heart.  Apart  from 
the  rest  was  the  horribly  mutilated  corpse  of  an  Armenian 
priest,  with  whom  a  story  is  connected.  He  came  from  a  vil¬ 
lage  in  the  plain,  Tevnik,  where  he  had  been  attacked  a  few 
days  before  and  his  house  looted.  At  the  same  time,  to  save 
his  life,  he  signed  a  paper  promising  to  pay  the  robbers  100 
liras.  As  soon  as  he  was  free,  he  made  for  Erzrum  to  make 
complaint.  This  man,  it  was  said,  was  the  first  Armenian 
killed.  He  was  in  the  Serai,  on  his  business,  when  he  was 
shot  dead  in  the  premises  with  several  other  defenseless  Ar¬ 
menians.  This  is  the  way  it  began  at  the  deserted  Serai,  and 
is  the  other  side  of  the  story. 

The  news  of  the  massacre  at  Erzrum  created  a  great 

o 

shock  everywhere.  That  in  such  a  city,  in  the  very  presence 
of  English,  French  and  Russian  Consuls,  with  high  dignitaries 
of  the  Turkish  Government  in  command,  such  scenes 
should  occur  was  in  itself  a  matter  of  great  moment.  That 
the  killing  and  pillaging  should  be  carried  on  by  the  soldiers 
under  the  direct  command  of  their  officers,  showed  conclu¬ 
sively  that  it  was  no  mere  mob  outbreak.  Of  course,  there 
were  various  stories  told.  Among  them  was  one  to  the  effect 
that  seven  Armenians  had  run  into  the  Government  House 


426 


OUTBREAK  OF  SICKNESS. 


and  made  directly  for  the  audience  rooms  of  Raouf  Pasha. 
These  had  fired  their  revolvers  right  in  the  faces  of  those  they 
met,  but  two  of  them  were  killed  and  five  taken  prisoners 
before  they  had  done  any  harm.  This  was  pretty  hard  to 
believe,  for  at  the  outside  entrance  of  the  Serai  were  always 
stationed  at  least  two  soldiers,  and  generally  a  dozen  or  more  - 
were  strolling  about  fully  armed. 

More  than  that,  assurance  upon  assurance  had  been  given 
that  if  the  Armenians  would  be  quiet  there  would  be  no  trou¬ 
ble.  The  commanding  officers  claimed  to  be  very  indignant 
that  the  soldiers  had  been  guilty  of  looting  and  it  was  said 
that  they  had  done  their  best  to  stem  the  torrent.  To  those, 
however,  who  know  Turkish  officers  and  soldiers,  this  state¬ 
ment  will  carry  little  weight.  Nine  days  after  the  massacre 
there  was  still  great  anxiety.  Then  commenced  an  outbreak 
of  sickness,  the  result  of  the  terrible  nervous  strain,  of  insuf¬ 
ficient  food  and  the  general  privation.  Then,  too,  stragglers 
came  in  from  the  villages  on  the  Passen,  Khanus  and  Alash- 
gerd  plains,  with  their  own  stories  of  horrors,  until  it  seemed 
as  if  the  cup  of  suffering  was  more  than  full. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


Massacres  in  Harput  District. 

American  Residences — First  Indications — Specious  Promises — Riot,  Murder  and  Pillage — A 
Dangerous  Journey — Attempts  at  Defense — List  of  Villages  and  Details  of  Massacres— 
Statement  of  a  Turkish  Official — Armenians  not  Responsible — Turkish  Dread  of  Re¬ 
form — Tabular  Statement. 

THE  city  of  Harput  stands  on  a  hill  in  a  plain  to  the  east 
of  the  Euphrates.  It  is  a  city  of  30,000  inhabitants, 
of  whom  less  than  one-half  are  Armenians,  the  others  being 
Turks.  The  plain  stretches  out  in  rolling  country,  except  to 
the  north,  where  lies  a  hilly  and  even  mountainous  region. 
The  Harput  plain  has  long  been  noted  as  one  of  the  most  fertile 
in  Asia  Minor  or  Eastern  Turkey.  The  inhabitants  are  quiet, 
peaceful  folk,  both  Armenians  and  Turks.  The  different 
villages  are  prosperous,  and  there  has  been  a  good  degree  of 
intelligence  and  of  self-restraint  among  this  people.  The 
wave  of  revolutionary  feeling  that  extended  over  the  region 
of  Marsovan  and  Yuzgat  scarcely  seemed  to  touch  Harput, 
and  up  to  the  close  of  1895  there  were  no  indications  of  any 
trouble.  The  city  is  the  centre  of  a  large  mission  work  and 
the  seat  of  the  Euphrates  College,  together  with  a  theologi¬ 
cal  seminary  and  a  flourishing  girls’  school.  The  students 
are  gathered  from  the  whole  of  Eastern  Turkey,  and  repre¬ 
sent  the  better  element  of  the  Armenian  nation  throughout 

(427) 


428 


ATTACK  BY  THE  KURDS. 


that  section  of  the  empire.  From  the  very  beginning"  of  the 
Armenian  question,  strong  influence  was  exerted  in  favor  of 
entirely  peaceful  action  in  the  effort  to  secure  reform,  and  all 
overt  opposition  to  the  government  was  strongly  discounte¬ 
nanced.  Turkish  officials  were  always  welcomed  at  the  exer¬ 
cises  in  the  college  and  repeatedly  expressed  their  pleasure 
at  its  conduct.  The  missionaries  had  always  been  on  ex¬ 
cellent  terms  with  the  officials,  especially  with  the  governors 
of  the  province,  who  were  located  at  the  town  of  Mezereh, 
about  four  miles  below  the  city  on  the  plains.  So  far  as  was 
apparent,  not  a  sign  of  revolutionary  influence  was  manifest 
anywhere  in  the  region,  and  friends  of  the  missionaries  lo¬ 
cated  there  felt  that  they  at  least  were  in  no  danger  from  the 
disturbances.  The  first  indication  of  danger  was  the  appear¬ 
ance  on  the  plain  of  bands  of  Kurds  from  the  regions  north 
and  east.  Villages  were  attacked,  looted  and  burned,  while 
the  villagers  were  killed  or  scattered.  For  a  time  the  maraud¬ 
ers  seemed  to  hold  aloof  from  the  city  itself,  but  as  they  kept 
on  their  course  of  pillage  their  appetite  for  plunder  was 
whetted,  and  they  looked  with  avaricious  eyes  at  the  city  on 
the  hill.  They  were  joined,  too,  by  the  Turkish  rabble,  both  in 
the  city  and  villages,  and  it  became  evident  that  there  was 
danger,  even  for  the  Americans.  Dr.  H.  N.  Barnum  went  to 
the  city  officials  and  was  assured  that  nothing  should  happen 
to  them  ;  that  no  Kurds  would  be  allowed  to  enter  the  city. 
What  followed  is  best  told  in  the  words  of  an  eye-witness. 

“We  were  surrounded  for  a  week  or  ten  days  by  a  cordon 
of  burning  villages  on  the  plain.  Gradually  the  cordon  of 
fire  and  fiendish  savages  drew  nearer  the  city.  The  attack 
in  the  city  was  planned  for  Sunday,  November  ioth,  and 
some  of  the  city  rabble  began  to  make  demonstrations ;  but 


ATTACK  ON  HUSENIK. 


429 


the  soldiers  drove  them  back.  The  invading  Kurds,  Redifs 
(Turkish  soldiers  in  disguise  as  Kurds),  were  not  ready  for 
the  onset.  On  Monday,  November  nth,  the  attack  began 
on  Husenik  (a  village  of  the  plains  only  a  short  distance 
from  the  city),  where  200  were  killed  and  as  many  more 
wounded,  then  up  the  gorge  to  Sinamood  (a  rocky  hill  on 
which  stands  the  ruins  of  an  old  fortress)  and  the  east  part 
of  the  city.  Then  a  body  of  men  appeared  in  the  Turkish 
cemetery  below  the  city.  They  came  near  a  body  of  soldiers 
posted  on  the  hill  with  a  cannon.  Big  Turks  came  down  to 
them  from  the  city ;  a  conference  seemed  to  be  held.  Ap¬ 
parently  the  invaders  were  forbidden  to  touch  the  markets 
(from  which,  of  course,  they  knew  that  both  Christians  and 
Turks  had  removed  their  goods  to  their  houses).  Then  the 
soldiers  withdrew  and  were  posted  on  the  road  higher  up, 
apparently  to  better  defend  the  empty  markets.  Then  the 
invaders,  with  a  great  cry  of  “Ash!  as/i!,}  began  to  fire 
their  guns.  The  soldiers  also  began  to  fire.  It  was  soon 
apparent  that  this  was  only  a  little  sham  fight ;  but  it  was  too 
thin  to  cover  the  nefarious  design  of  the  men  who  planned 
this  thing.  Then  began  the  attack  on  the  houses  in  this 
quarter.  (The  American  houses  are  in  the  western  part  of  the 
city,  quite  a  distance  from  the  markets.)  The  soldiers  protected 
the  raiders,  and  not  a  finger  was  lifted  by  the  military  officers 
on  the  ground  to  protect  the  people  or  us  from  the  plunder¬ 
ing,  murderous  mob.  There  were  hundreds  of  plunderers. 
Scarcely  a  house  in  this  quarter  escaped,  and  a  large  number 
were  set  on  fire.  A  crowd  of  refugees  were  in  our  court  and 
house  and  girls’  school. 

“  Soon  our  outside  gate  was  attacked,  and  the  crowd  of 
fugitives  fled  for  their  lives.  One  company  pressing  through 


430 


MURDER  AND  ARSON. 


a  narrow  passage  were  fired  upon  ;  the  bullets  fell  like  hail 
around  them;  four  were  wounded.  A  cannon-ball  went 
through  the  same  passage-way.  This  company  fled  to  the  hill 
and  were  taken  into  the  city  (twenty-seven  school-girls  in  the 
crowd;  they  suffered  untold  misery  in  a  khan  that  night;  de¬ 
livered  next  day,  and  brought  away  under  an  escort  of  sol¬ 
diers).  The  rest  of  the  refugees  took  refuge  in  the  yard  of 
the  girls’  school,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall.  At  the  last 
moment  I  ran  out  to  see  if  our  heavy  front  gate  was  standing. 
I  saw  a  hole  a  foot  wide  made,  and  instantly  the  loud  report 
of  a  rifle  warned  me  to  retreat.  We  had  been  in  the  yard 
but  a  few  moments  when  the  marauders  were  at  the  door  of 
the  yard  inside  the  school  buildings.  We  made  another  start 
and  hurried  out  from  the  gate,  and  this  time  for  the  College 
(boys’)  building  as  our  last  refuge.  I  was  on  the  outside  of 
the  fleeing  crowd,  our  invalids,  Mr.  W.  and  Mrs.  A.,  borne 
in  strong  arms.  Suddenly  a  savage-looking  Turk  appeared 
at  the  corner  of  the  building  outside.  I  instinctively  raised 
my  hand  to  prevent  his  coming  toward  the  fleeing  crowd. 
Instantly  he  drew  and  flourished  a  revolver  and  deliberately 
pointed  at  me.  I  thought  for  an  instant  it  was  only  to 
frighten  us  and  make  us  hasten  our  flight,  but  two  shots  from 
his  pistol  convinced  me  that  his  purpose  was  to  murder. 
Some  thirty  or  more  had  been  shot  down  in  the  houses  just 
below  us.  Again,  before  we  were  all  through  the  gate,  he 
aimed  at  Mr.  Gates  and  Miss  Wheeler  and  fired  a  third  time; 
but  no  one  was  hit.  We  breathed  more  freely  as  we  pressed 
into  the  three-story  stone  building  with  the  more  than  four 
hundred  fugitives.  Soon  the  smoke  began  to  rise  from  the 
front  of  my  house  and  Mr.  Brown’s ;  some  say  the  house  was 
set  on  fire  by  bombshells.  Soon  the  whole  of  the  houses 


BRITISH  FLOTILLA  The  gigantic  gunboats  of  the  Biitish  Mediterranean 
fleet  nearing  Constantinople  after  the  most  terrible  massacres 


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TREACHERY  OF  THE  COMMANDER. 


433 


connected  with  the  Girls’  College  were  on  fire,  and  the  large 
college  building  was  no  doubt  set  on  fire ;  also  fifty  to  seventy 
houses  were  burning  below  ours.  Then  the  chapel  close  to 
us  was  set  on  fire,  and  the  intense  heat  would  have  set  fire  to 
the  large  high-school  building  between  the  college  and  chapel; 
but  with  our  new  fire  engine  and  a  plentiful  supply  of  water, 
Mr.  Gates  was  able  to  save  it  from  taking  fire.  Here  in  the 
college  building,  with  450  persons,  we  spent  the  night,  with 
little  bedding  and  only  dry  crusts  of  bread  to  eat. 

“The  plan  was  evidently  to  destroy  all  the  buildings,  and 
thus  render  our  stay  here  impossible.  One  of  the  houses 
was  fired  in  three  places,  but  the  fire  went  out.  A  bombshell 
was  fired  into  Mr.  Barnum’s  study,  and  burst  in  the  room 
from  which  they  had  fled  only  a  little  before.  Mr.  Gates’  house 
would  have  been  burned — oil  was  poured  in  two  places — but 
happily  was  left  unburned.  Three  nights  we  remained  in 
the  college  building,  then  went  into  a  room  in  the  Gates’  house  ; 
the  Barnums  also  went  to  theirs. 

“  The  next  morning  after  the  attack,  the  Turkish  military 
commander  advised  and  urged  leaving  the  college  building, 
saying:  ‘I  can’t  protect  you  here.’  Mr.  Barnum  replied: 
‘The  time  has  come  for  plain  talk.  I  saw  you  standing  on 
the  hill  there  yesterday  when  our  houses  were  plundered 
and  burned,  and  you  did  nothing  to  prevent  it.  If  you  wish 
to  protect  us,  you  can  do  it  better  here  than  anywhere  else.’ 
The  same  officer  had  said  two  days  before  that  he  would  be 
cut  in  pieces  before  he  would  allow  a  Kurd  to  enter  the 
city.  He  now  brazenly  replied :  ‘  What  could  I  do  against 
15,000  Kurds?  ’  They  wanted  to  get  the  people  scattered  in 
the  city,  and  us  out  of  the  buildings,  and  then  they  would 
have  been  burned.  But  I  must  not  write  more,  although  there 


434  MURDER  OF  PASTORS  AND  PREACHERS. 

is  much  to  tell.  We  write  to  Constantinople,  but  can’t  be 
sure  of  our  letters  getting  through.  We  have  telegraphed 
a  good  many  times,  but  telegrams  can’t  tell  all.  The  pres¬ 
sure  on  the  villages  to  become  Moslem  is  terrible ;  large 
numbers  have  been  instantly  shot  down  or  butchered  who 
would  not  instantly  abjure  their  Christian  faith.  We  have 
already  heard  of  the  murder  of  seven  of  our  pastors  and  six 
preachers.  But  I  have  not  time  to  enter  on  these  horrible 
details.  If  I  can  get  letters  sent  on,  perhaps  I  will  send 
again;  45  killed  in  the  west  quarter,  100  in  the  whole  city. 
Husenik,  200  killed,  200  wounded.  Official  reports  will  rep¬ 
resent  Turks  killed.  There  has  not  been  a  single  one  killed 
or  wounded.” 

Northwest  of  Harput  is  the  city  of  Arabkir,  one  of  the1 
most  prosperous  in  the  whole  region.  The  Armenians  are 
enterprising  and  thrifty,  and  for  the  most  part  have  been  on 
good  terms  with  the  Mohammedans.  The  American  Mis¬ 
sionaries  have  had  considerable  influence  there  and  at  the 
time  of  the  massacres  two  of  the  ladies  were  in  the  city. 
The  time  had  come  for  them  to  return  to  Harput,  but  every 
possible  difficulty  was  put  in  their  way.  There  was  intense 
excitement  on  every  side  and  the  Armenians  were  in  terror. 
At  last,  by  giving  a  heavy  present  the  ladies  secured  a  mule¬ 
teer  and  a  guard  and  started  on  their  journey  home.  One 
of  them  has  written  of  the  journey  as  follows: 

“Our  journey  was  through  a  country  infested  with  robber 
bands.  Twice  they  stopped  our  zaptieh  and  demanded  per¬ 
mission  to  rob  us.  We  had  the  hardest  time  to  get  away 
from  Arabkir,  for  the  governor  declared  that  he  had  no  zap¬ 
tieh,  and  we  finally  had  to  go  to  him  in  person  to  insist  upon 
his  furnishing  one.  Then  we  did  not  find  a  muleteer  for 


DANGERS  OF  OUR  JOURNEY. 


435 


nearly  a  week ;  he  was  a  Kurd,  and  his  animals  were  so  lazy 
and  slow!  We  traveled  as  if  all  was  as  safe  and  pleasant 
as  possible.  The  first  band  of  robbers  who  insisted  upon  the 
satisfaction  of  ‘cutting  us  to  pieces’  numbered  seven  fierce 
Kurds.  I  sat  up  straight  on  my  horse  and  passed  them 
quickly  without  looking,  as  if  nothing  was  going  on  at  all,  and 
after  me  came  the  rest  of  our  caravan,  in  the  same  spirit. 
The  second  band  numbered  20,  all  fully  armed.  Again  we 
pushed  past  and  left  our  zeptieh  to  parley.  The  latter  band 
had  one  man  who  took  a  fancy  to  my  horse,  and  he  proposed 
to  shoot  me  and  take  Nejib  for  himself!  There  were  many 
other  robbers  to  be  seen.  We  stayed  the  following  night  in  a 
lonely  khan,  where  we  were  in  great  danger. 

“  This  khan  was  on  the  other  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  which 
was  crossed  early  the  next  morning.  Our  zaptieh  was  to  be 
changed  at  the  town  of  Maden,  just  there.  Again  the  gov¬ 
ernor  would  give  us  none.  I  was  obliged  to  go  to  him  my¬ 
self,  whereupon  he  gave  orders  that  the  one  who  brought  us 
to  Maden  should  take  us  on.  What  a  fierce  and  cruel-look- 
ing  man  that  governor  was !  But  he  had  a  little  pity  in  his 
heart,  for,  when  he  saw  our  servant  loading  up  in  the  market, 
he  said :  ‘  Make  haste,  Yavroom  (a  term  of  endearment  used 
for  animals),  go  quickly.’  He  must  have  known  what  was 
coming.  Our  zaptieh  took  us  on  for  a  big  price.  I  would 
have  given  him  anything  that  he  had  asked.  He  was,  to  us, 
kind  and  good.  How  more  than  glad  we  were  to  get  out  of 
Maden.  All  were  in  fear,  and  the  very  next  day  the  blow  fell. 
It  was  a  very  worldly  place,  and  all  were  busy,  trying  alone  to 
hide  their  worldly  goods.  Oh,  the  pale  faces  and  long-drawn 
sighs  !  ” 

At  Arabkir  and  at  Malatia,  another  large  and  prosperous 


43^  MASSACRE  AT  ARABKIR  AND  MALATIA. 

city  farther  south,  the  Armenians  undertook  to  defend  them¬ 
selves.  They,  however,  succeeded  merely  in  stirring  the 
greater  anger  of  the  Turks,  with  the  result  that  they  suffered 
terribly,  while  comparatively  few  Turks  were  killed.  Esti¬ 
mates  made  soon  after  the  massacre  put  the  number  of 
Armenians  killed  in  Malatia  at  5,000  and  at  Arabkir  at  2,000, 
while  in  all  probably  not  over  500  Turks  suffered.  In  Mala¬ 
tia,  all  the  Armenians,  Gregorians,  Roman  Catholics  and 
Protestants  gathered  in  two  churches  and  fought  for  their 
lives  until  compelled  t6  surrender.  One  churchful  first  gave 
up  their  arms  on  condition  of  being  protected,  but  after  that 
they  were  surrounded  and  many  of  them  were  killed.  Space 
does  not  permit  complete  statements,  but  the  following  table 
and  notes,  prepared  in  regard  to  the  Harput  region,  will  give 
an  idea  of  the  terrible  work.  The  list  embraces  only  a  single 
month,  commencing  with  the  latter  part  of  October,  1895. 
The  items  have  been  gathered  with  great  care,  and  may  be 
relied  upon  as  within  the  truth  rather  than  as  exaggerated. 
The  number  of  houses  is  given  rather  than  the  population, 
because  that  method  is  far  more  reliable.  The  number 
of  people  to  a  house  varies  from  5  to  30.  Probably  8  to  10 
would  be  a  reasonably  fair  average. 


Names . 

Houses. 

Burned. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

1.  Adish . 

.  310 

310 

244  men 

13  women 

•  • 

2.  Aivose  .  .... 

•  •  • 

•  • 

70 

•  • 

3.  Aghansi . 

•  47 

I 

12 

10 

4.  Arabkir . 

.3,000  Armenians.  2,750 
5,000  Turks. 

350  shops.  325 

2,000 

•  • 

5.  Bizmishen. .  . . 

.  270 

190 
Partly  40 

23 

5 

6.  Chemishgesek 

•  •  • 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

7.  Momsa . 

•  •  • 

•  • 

10 

«  • 

RECORD  OF  DISTINCTION 


437 


Names 

Houses. 

Burned. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

8.  Kutturbul . 

.  100 

100 

«  • 

•  • 

9.  Chunkush . 

1,000  Ar. 

103 

680 

•  • 

IO.  Chermuk . 

480  T. 

400  Ar. 

most. 

•  • 

•  • 

II.  Diarbekir . 

700  T. 

•  •  • 

•  • 

2,000 

•  • 

12.  Egin . 

1,000  Ar. 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

13.  Gamirgab . 

1,000  T. 

.  90 

32 

7 

•  • 

14.  Garmuri . 

•  •  • 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

15.  Hokh . 

.  125  Ar. 

30 

62 

10 

16.  Huelu . 

150  T. 

.  300  Ar. 

263 

30 

•  • 

17.  Habusi . 

15  T. 

.  180 

90 

75 

50 

18.  Hulakegh  . .  .  . 

.  150 

11 

16 

•  • 

19.  Havah . 

.  280 

260 

no 

•  • 

20.  Husenik . 

.  650  Ar. 

9 

260 

200 

21.  Ichmeh . 

22.  Konk . 

120  T. 

.  200  Ar. 

60  T. 

.  300 

•  • 

60 

•  • 

•  • 

23.  Malatia . 

.1,500  Ar. 

•  • 

5,000 

•  • 

24.  Ozunonah . 

.  100  Ar. 

•  • 

65 

•  • 

25.  Peri . 

.  400  Ar. 

•  • 

8 

12 

and  63  villages .  90  T. 

89.  Palu .  400  Ar. 

•  • 

1,580 

•  • 

90.  Kapu  Achmaz. 

. .  90  Ar. 

75 

«  • 

•  • 

91.  Khoshmat.... 

80 

•  • 

•  • 

92.  Nurkhi . 

.  100  Ar. 

90 

•  • 

•  • 

93.  Shenaz . 

45 

•  • 

•  • 

and  40 
villages. 

134.  Severek . 

.  350  Ar. 

•  • 

750 

♦  • 

135.  Saru  Kamish. 

.  80  Ar. 

•  • 

6 

•  • 

136.  Sheikhaji 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

137.  Tadem . 

250 

270 

IOO 

138.  Upper  Mezreh 

4  T. 

. .  20 

• 

11 

•  • 

•  • 

Total 

19.851 

5.064 

12,708 

387 

438 


STATEMENT  OF  ATROCITIES. 


REMARKS. 

1.  Adish  is  a  mountain  village,  and  many  had  gone  away  to 
earn  a  living.  Many  females  carried  off  by  Turks  and  Kurds. 

2.  Aivose. — This  place  “wiped  out .”  Women  and  girls 
carried  off  Priest  was  forced  to  sound  the  “call  to  prayer,” 
then  shot.  He  blessed  the  man  who  shot  him  and  said, 
“  Shoot  me  again.” 

4.  Arabkir. — Began  Tuesday,  November  6th,  continued  till 
Saturday.  After  that  the  Protestant  pastor  and  many  lead¬ 
ing  men  were  imprisoned.  Pastor  and  others  killed  in  prison. 
Plunder  complete.  Even  the  richest  are  destitute. 

5.  Bizmishen . — Eight  miles  from  Harput.  All  who  re¬ 
mained  in  the  village  were  killed  by  Kurds.  Most  of  them 
were  old  or  sick  and  could  not  flee.  The  rest  fled  to  Mezreh 
(the  seat  of  the  governor  of  the  province)  where  they  were 
robbed  by  soldiers  under  pretense  of  search  for  arms. 

6.  Chemishgesek . — Up  to  within  a  few  days  the  city  had  es¬ 
caped,  but  the  villages  being  near  the  region  occupied  by  the 
Dersim  Kurds  had  been  ravaged  and  in  part  burned. 

8.  Kutturbul. — Karabash,  Kahe,  Cherokeeya  were  burned 
with  much  loss  of  life.  Only  four  men  escaped  from  Kutturbul. 
Two  Protestants  pastors,  men,  women  and  children  killed. 

9.  Chunkush. — November  4th,  Kurds  plundered  the  market 
and  withdrew,  but  returned  at  night  and  burned  83  houses. 
Christians  taken  to  mosque  and  forced  to  accept  Islam.  Gave 
up  weapons.  November  8th,  Kaimakam  (local  governor) 
came.  November  nth,  soldiers.  November  14th,  Kurds  re¬ 
turned;  soldiers  fired  on  Christians,  and  Kurds  then  raided 
the  town,  all  armed  with  Martini  rifles.  Protestant  church, 
school  and  parsonage  burned. 

10.  Chermuk . — Few  males  escaped. 


OUTRAGES  CONTINUED. 


439 


11.  Diarbekir. — November  ist-3d.  Began  by  Moslems  is¬ 
suing  from  mosque  and  burning  the  market.  Christians  de¬ 
fended  themselves.  Do  not  know  how  many  Turks  were 
slain. 

12.  Egin . — Paid  £.  T.  1,500  ($6,600)  to  Mahmud  Agha,  a 
Kurdish  chief,  to  secure  immunity. 

13.  Gamirgab . — A  suburb  of  Egin. 

14.  Garmuri. — Chiefs  took  Christians  to  their  houses  while 
Kurds  plundered.  Then  they  told  them,  “Unless  you  ac¬ 
cept  Islam  we  cannot  protect  you.”  At  the  edge  of  the 
sword  they  accepted  Islam  and  were  circumcised.  Protestant 
chapel  and  parsonage  burned.  Armenian  church  now  a 
mosque. 

15.  Hokh . — Armenian  church,  Protestant  chapel  and  par¬ 
sonage  burned.  Those  killed  had  kneeled  to  receive  cir¬ 
cumcision.  Fifty-five  women  and  children  taken  to  harems 
and  Turkish  villages.  Women  and  girls  outraged. 

16.  Huelu. — All  but  thirty-seven  poor  houses  burned. 
Seventy-five  Protestant  houses  and  their  fine  new  church 
burned.  Two  priests  killed.  The  last  houses  burned  were 
kindled  with  kerosene  sent  by  the  government.  Survivors 
accepted  Islam  or  are  fugitives. 

17.  Habusi. — Dead  unburied.  Church,  chapel  and  parson¬ 
age  burned. 

18.  Hulakegh. — Plundered  by  Turks.  Preacher  tortured 
and  killed  in  city.  His  wife  killed. 

19.  Havah. — Being  considered  a  centre  of  nationalism, 
Turks  said  they  would  make  this  village  “a  field.”  At¬ 
tacked  by  Kurds  October  29th.  Villagers  held  them  off  for 
two  days  and  sent  to  government  for  help,  which  was  refused. 
Then  villagers  fled,  Kurds  plundered  the  village.  Killed  10 


440 


ATROCITIES  CONTINUED. 


or  15.  Thursday,  October  31st,  soldiers  came.  Fugitives 
heard  the  bugle  and  returned,  expecting  protection.  Soldiers 
killed  50  of  them  ;  the  rest  fled  to  Ibraham  Bey,  at  Socrat. 
After  two  or  three  days  he  sent  them  to  barracks  at  Palu. 
There  the  women  were  separated,  and  sent  to  city ;  men  sent 
back  to  Socrat.  Ibraham  Bey  sent  Kurds  to  meet  them,  who 
fired,  killing  50  more.  Survivors  returned  to  barracks. 
Since  then  they  have  lived  here  and  there  as  they  could,  pull¬ 
ing  up  the  sprouting  grain  to  get  the  seed,  eating  grass,  etc. 
Government  gave  a  little  grain,  Kurds  took  it. 

20.  Husenik . — Many  of  the  dead  were  shot  by  soldiers. 
List  of  killed  still  increasing.  Priests  killed  with  great 
indignity. 

21.  Ichmeh . — -Survivors  are  considered  Moslems.  Males 
are  assembled  in  church,  led  out,  and  made  to  choose  Islam 
or  death.  Protestant  pastor  killed.  Church  a  mosque,  chapel 
a  sheepfold. 

22.  Konk. — “Worse  than  Habusi.”  No  details. 

23.  Malatia. — November  4th-7th.  Began  by  sudden  raid 
of  Turks  and  Kurds  upon  the  market.  Kurds  armed  with 
Martini  rifles.  Four  hundred  killed  in  the  market,  30  or  40 
at  government  headquarters.  Armenians  defended  them¬ 
selves.  Five  thousand  Armenians,  500  Turks  and  Kurds 
killed.  Small  rations  given  for  a  few  days  and  then  ceased. 

24.  Ozunonah. — Agha  took  people  to  his  house  for  “  protec¬ 
tion/’  while  Kurds  plundered  the  village;  then  he  sent  them 
back,  gathered  leading  men  to  take  them  to  Palu  for  circum¬ 
cision.  Outside  the  village  10  were  shot.  Under  the  lead 
of  a  Christian  woman,  55  men,  women  and  children  threw 
themselves  into  the  river. 

25.  Peru — Seventy  villages — 20,000  souls  in  that  region 


ATROCITIES  CONTINUED. 


441 


(Christians).  Seven  villages  spared,  rest  plundered.  In  Peri 
Kurds  attacked  November  6th.  Soldiers  guided  them  to 
Christian  houses.  Plunder  largely  by  Turks  of  the  town. 
Kurds,  dissatisfied  with  their  share  of  the  plunder,  returned 
November  9th  to  plunder  Turks,  but  two  Kurds  were  shot 
and  they  withdrew.  Agha  had  20  to  30  Kurds  in  his  house 
and  secured  much  plunder.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  Christians 
were  made  Moslems.  A  colonel  came  a  few  days  later  with 
soldiers.  He  reproached  the  Turks  for  the  small  number 
slain,  and  said:  “You  should  have  killed  at  least  100.” 

89.  Palu. — November  5th.  The  market  and  50  or  60  houses 
were  plundered  by  soldiers  and  Kurds.  Afterward  a  govern¬ 
ment  telal  (broker)  ordered  people  to  open  shops  on  penalty 
of  three  medjidies  (silver  dollars)  fine.  Said  everything  had 
passed  and  no  more  danger.  Kurds  came  again,  but  were 
driven  off  to  the  villages,  which  they  plundered.  A  sheik  and 
his  son  preached  a  crusade  against  Christians.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  involve  Armenians,  but  failed.  Sheik’s  son  said 
he  thirsted  for  the  blood  of  Armenians,  and  they  were  foolish 
to  wait  for  them  to  start  a  disturbance.  He  is  said  to  have 
killed  43  himself.  November  11th  Kurds  suddenly  appeared 
and  began  to  kill.  Only  two  Armenians  resisted.  The  dead 
are  estimated  from  1,200  to  2,000.  Chapel  ruined,  parsonage 
and  school  turned  into  barracks.  Survivors  dvincr  of  huno-er. 
No  relief  allowed.  Forty-four  villages  around  Palu  all  plun¬ 
dered  badly ;  seven  more  or  less  burned.  From  Khoshmat 
20  or  30  women  came  to  the  barracks  stark  naked.  Many 
outraged. 

134.  Severek. — Attack  began  by  rush  of  Turks  and  Kurds 
upon  the  market;  lasted  three  days.  Of  80  Chunkush 

families  in  city,  only  seven  heads  of  families  remain. 

26 


442 


AN  official’s  STATEMENT. 


136.  Sheikhaji . — November  5th  and  6th.  Saved  by  Agha 
on  payment  of  twenty  liras.  All  became  Moslems.  Two 
priests  killed,  one  with  great  indignity.  Hadji  Beyo  and 
his  son,  Mustapha,  were  foremost  in  destroying  the  village. 
Now  Agha  gives  a  woman  to  each  soldier  and  zaptieh  on 
guard  every  night.  He  has  given  two  married  women  to  his 
son  and  two  to  two  renegade  Armenians. 

138.  Upper  Mezreh . — Much  plunder  from  the  city  taken  to 
Ahmed  Agha’s  house.  His  son  is  a  zaptieh  and  his  stepson 
a  collector. 

These  are  only  the  places  in  regard  to  which  figures  were 
available  at  the  time.  No  one  counted  the  wounded  in  most 
places.  The  number  of  deaths  increased  daily.  From  the 
villages  which  have  been  counted  around  Peri  and  Palu 
there  were  no  particulars.  The  sum  total  must  be  dreadful 
in  the  extreme.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  keep  count 
of  the  outrages  upon  women.  They  came  from  every  quar¬ 
ter  and  hardly  attracted  notice. 

If  any  one  is  inclined  to  doubt  the  reality  of  these  chapters 
of  horrors,  they  may  be  convinced  by  a  table  of  statistics 
given  below  and  prepared  by  an  intelligent  Turkish  official, 
whose  heart  was  greatly  moved  by  the  recent  outrages  in 
the  region  of  Harput.  He  devoted  much  time  to  it,  although 
secretly,  for  obvious  reasons ;  and  as  he  had  had  unusual 
facilities  for  securing  information,  this  table  is  the  most  com¬ 
plete  that  has  been  made.  As  it  is  impossible  to  secure  exact 
information  in  such  cases,  and  as  there  is  always  a  tendency 
to  exaggerate,  some  of  the  items  are  probably  an  overstate¬ 
ment.  Along  with  this  was  a  document  of  which  the  follow¬ 
ing  is  a  translation.  Coming  as  it  does  from  a  Moham¬ 
medan,  who  has  a  title  and  who  is  in  the  public  service,  it  is 


FEARFUL  ATROCITIES. 


443 


a  document  of  no  small  interest  and  importance,  for  it  is  a 
testimony  independent  of  other  testimony  that  has  been 
given,  but  which  in  every  essential  confirms  what  has  been 
previously  related.  This  statement  is  as  follows  : 

“A  petition  in  behalf  of  the  Armenians  was  given  to  the 
Powers  in  the  hope  of  improving  their  condition.  An  Imperial 
Firman  was  issued  for  carrying  out  the  Reforms  suggested 
by  the  Powers.  On  this  account  the  Turkish  population  was 
much  excited  by  the  thought  that  an  Armenian  Principality 
was  to  be  established  here ;  and  they  began  to  show  great 
hostility  to  the  poor  Armenians,  who  had  been  obedient  to 
them  and  with  whom  they  had  lived  in  peace  for  more  than 
six  hundred  years.  In  addition  to  their  anger  was  added  the 
permission  and  help  of  the  government,  by  which,  before  the 
Reforms  were  undertaken,  the  whole  Turkish  population  was 
aroused  with  the  evil  intent  of  obliterating  the  Armenian  name  : 
and  behold  the  Turks  of  the  district,  joining  with  the  neigh¬ 
boring  Kurdish  tribes,  by  the  thousand,  armed  with  weapons 
which  are  allowed  only  to  the  army,  and  with  the  help  and 
guidance  of  Turkish  officials,  in  an  open  manner  in  the  day¬ 
time  attacked  the  Armenian  shops,  stores,  monasteries, 
churches  and  schools,  and  committed  the  fearful  atrocities 
which  are  set  forth  in  the  accompanying  table.  They  killed 
bishops,  priests,  teachers  and  common  people,  with  every  kind 
of  torture ;  and  they  showed  special  spite  toward  ecclesiastics 
by  treating  their  bodies  with  extra  indignity,  and  in  many 
cases  they  did  not  allow  their  bodies  to  be  buried.  Some  they 
burned  and  some  they  gave  as  food  to  dogs  and  wild  beasts. 
They  plundered  churches  and  monasteries  and  they  took  all 
the  property  of  the  common  people,  their  flocks  and  herds, 
their  ornaments  and  their  money,  their  house-furnishings, 


444 


STATEMENTS  NOT  OVERDRAWN. 


their  food,  and  even  the  clothing  of  the  men  and  women  in 
their  flight. 

“  Then,  after  plundering  them,  they  burned  many  houses, 
churches,  monasteries,  schools  and  markets,  with  the  petroleum 
they  had  brought  with  them,  and  the  large  stone  churches, 
which  they  could  not  burn,  they  ruined  in  other  ways.  Some 
churches  were  converted  into  mosques  and  devoted  to  Moslem 
worship  ;  other  churches  suffered  all  sorts  of  defilement ;  and 
their  sacred  books  were  torn  in  pieces  and  cast  on  the  dung¬ 
hills,  and  even  the  priestly  garments,  used  in  the  celebration 
of  the  Mass,  were  put  upon  harlots.  Besides  this,  priests, 
laymen,  women  and  even  small  children,  were  made  Moslems 
by  force.  They  put  white  turbans  on  the  men  and  circumcised 
them  in  a  cruel  manner.  They  cut  the  hair  of  the  women  in 
bangs — like  that  of  Moslem  women — and  made  them  go 
through  the  Moslem  prayers.  Married  women  and  girls 
were  defiled  against  the  sacred  law,  and  some  were  married 
by  force  and  are  still  detained  in  Turkish  houses.  Especially 
in  Palu,  Severek,  Malatia,  Arabkir,  and  Chunkush,  many 
women  and  girls  were  taken  to  the  soldiers’  barracks  and 
dishonored  there.  Many  to  escape  such  dishonor,  threw 
themselves  into  the  Euphrates,  and  some  committed  suicide 
in  other  ways.  It  is  very  clear  that  the  majority  of  those  killed 
in  Harput,  Kesirik,  Malatia  and  Arabkir  were  killed  by  the 
soldiers;  and  also  that  the  churches  and  schools  of  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  Gregorians  in  the  upper  quarter  of  Harput  city, 
together  with  the  houses,  were  set  on  fire  by  cannon-balls. 
Merchants,  bankers  and  others  of  the  principal  Armenians 
are  obliged  to  beg  their  food.  If  immediate  aid  is  not  sent, 
multitudes  of  the  sufferers  will  perish  from  hunger  and  cold 
during  the  severe  winter.  (See  the  table  on  next  page.) 


TABLE  OF  OUTRAGES 


445 


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4» 

STATISTICS  OF  THE  RECENT  OUTRAGES  IN  THE  HARPUT  VILAYET. 


446 


NO  OCCASION  FOR  ATTACKS. 


The  government  makes  little  effort  to  provide  for  the 
security  of  the  people  and  unless  special  protection  is  pro¬ 
vided,  the  survivors  will  perish  also. 

“  It  is  impossible  to  state  the  amount  of  the  pecuniary  loss. 
The  single  city  of  Egin  has  given  twelve  hundred  liras  ($5,280) 
as  a  ransom.  (It  is  said  by  others  to  have  been  fifteen  hun¬ 
dred  liras.) 

“These  events  have  occurred  for  the  reasons  which  I  have 
mentioned.  I  wish  to  show  by  this  report,  which  I  have 
written  from  love  to  humanity,  that  the  Armenians  gave  no 
occasion  for  these  attacks.” 

Strong  as  these  statements  are,  they  are  not  overdrawn. 
There  may  be  exaggerations  in  the  figures  by  hundreds  and 
thousands,  but  the  facts  it  is  impossible  to  exaggerate.  Every 
place  has  its  own  tale  of  horror,  and  when  individual  cases 
are  examined  the  record  is  too  vast  for  the  human  imagination. 
Only  God  and  the  angels  can  take  it  in. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Aintab,  Marash  and  Urfa. 


The  Situation  in  Northern  Syria— No  Revolutionary  Movement— Massacre  at  Aintab— 
Kurdish  Women — A  Turkish  Captain  Helps  the  Pillage— A  Colonel  Checks  it— Caring 
for  the  Wounded— Two  Attacks  at  Marash— Destruction  of  American  Houses— Brave 
Men  in  Zeitun — Story  of  Massacres  at  Urfa. 


OUTH  of  the  Taurus  Mountains,  in  what  is  called 


Northern  Syria,  are  a  number  of  large  cities,  the  most 
important  being  Aleppo,  Antioch,  Aintab,  Birejik  and  Urfa. 
On  the  very  edge  of  the  mountains  is  the  city  of  Marash, 
while  in  the  midst  of  the  range  are  Zeitun,  Albistan,  Behesni, 
Adiaman  and  some  other  places  of  more  or  less  note. 
Aleppo  is  a  distinctively  Moslem  city,  and,  more  noticeable 
still,  purely  Arabic.  Its  inhabitants  are  only  to  a  limited  de¬ 
gree  Turks,  the  great  majority,  whether  Moslem  or  Christian, 
being  of  Syrian  race.  Antioch  has  less  of  the  Arab  element, 
but  all  the  rest  are  distinctively  Turkish  and  Armenian.  The 
Turks  are  very  largely  of  Turcoman  rather  than  Ottoman  or 
Seljuk  descent.  The  Armenians  not  only  lose  almost  entirely 
their  own  language,  adopting  the  Turkish,  but  differ  in  some 
respects  from  the  Armenians  of  Asia  Minor.  Whether  this 
is  because  they  are  somewhat  shut  off  by  the  mountains,  or 
because  they  were  more  bitterly  oppressed,  or  because  they 


(447) 


448 


MISSIONS  ADVANCED. 


more  thoroughly  accepted  the  inevitable,  it  is  impossible  to 
say.  In  any  case  they  have  been  noted  for  their  general 
sturdiness  of  character,  their  general  prosperity,  and  a  large 
degree  of  liberality  for  new  ideas.  Protestant  missions  have 
advanced  greatly  among  them,  and  their  system  of  schools 
established  in  the  cities  is  probably  the  best  in  the  empire. 
In  general,  they  have  always  been  peaceable,  though  in  the 
mountains  they  have  not  been  slow  to  assert  their  independ¬ 
ence.  Pew  Turks  cared  to  enter  Zeitun  against  the  will  of 
its  people,  and  in  Aintab  their  representatives  in  the  local  city 
council  were  always  found  self-assertive,  though  always  diplo¬ 
matic  and  not  aggressive  in  their  manner.  As  a  natural  result 
of  their  interest  in  education,  it  came  about  that  a  college  for 
young  men  was  established  in  Aintab,  and  one  for  young 
women  in  Marash,  and  the  students  in  both  cities  showed 
marked  ability  and  progressive  ideas.  For  the  most  part 
their  relations  with  the  Moslems  were  friendly,  though  in 
Marash,  where  apparently  the  close  proximity  of  the  mountain 
sections  seemed  to  roughen  all,  there  was  considerable  jealousy 
and  antagonism. 

The  Armenian  Revolutionists  apparently  made  little  effort, 
certainly  met  with  no  success,  to  embroil  these  communities, 
and  when  the  storm  burst  in  the  north  there  was  a  general 
feeling  that  these  places  would  be  spared.  One  exception 
might  be  made  in  regard  to  Marash,  and  the  well-known 
jealousy  of  the  Turkish  Government  in  regard  to  col¬ 
leges  made  some  fear  for  Aintab.  The  mutterings  preceding 
the  storm  were  heard,  however,  as  soon  as  the  word  of  the 
massacre  at  Constantinople  had  reached  the  Turkish  popula¬ 
tion  of  the  region.  There  was  trouble  in  the  smaller  places 
first,  an  attack  in  Urfa  on  November  3d;  and  then,  less  than 


COLLEGE  AT  AINTAB. 


451 


two  weeks  later,  the  blow  fell  at  Aintab.  The  following  de¬ 
scription  by  an  eye-witness  will  give  the  story  better  than  any 
one  else  can.  The  letter  is  written  from  the  college,  which  is 
situated  on  a  hill  quite  a  distance  from  the  city. 

“Aintab,  Monday,  November  18th,  1895. 

“  We  have  been  congratulating  ourselves  that  our  city  had  escaped  the 
outbreak  of  Moslem  fanaticism  which  has  lately  swept  the  neighboring 
cities  with  the  besom  of  destruction.  But  Saturday  morning,  without  the 
slightest  warning,  while  we  were  at  breakfast,  a  great  noise  of  shouting  and 
firing  of  guns  came  to  us  from  the  city,  telling  us  that  the  work  of  blood 
and  plunder  had  begun  here,  also.  My  first  thought  was  for  the  ladies  and 
girls  at  the  seminary  and  hospital.  So,  seizing  my  revolver,  I  sprang  upon 
my  horse  and  hurried  over  there.  I  met  and  passed  many  armed  Kurds, 
who  live  in  the  suburb  just  about  the  hospital  and  seminary,  but  they  did  not 
interfere  with  me.  Upon  nearing  the  city,  the  confused  sound  that  had 
reached  us  at  the  college  became  resolved  into  its  elements ;  and  I  could 
distinguish  the  hoarse  cries  of  fighting  men,  the  screams  of  women  and 
children,  and,  most  terrible  of  all,  the  shrill,  exultant  lu-lu-lu-lu  of  the 
Kurdish  and  Turkish  women,  cheering  on  their  men  to  the  attack.  I  found 
the  girls’  school  and  hospital  had  not,  as  yet,  been  attacked.  Dr.  Hamil¬ 
ton  and  Miss  Trowbridge  preferred  to  remain  at  their  post  of  duty  rather 
than  to  join  the  ladies  at  the  seminary,  which  decision  I  could  not  oppose. 
Upon  my  return  to  the  seminary,  which  is  separated  from  the  hospital  yard 
by  a  narrow  street  only,  I  found  Brother  Sanders  there,  and  shortly  our 
nearest  neighbor,  Hadji  Hussein  Agha,  came  in  and  said  that  at  the  outbreak 
which  occurred  at  the  Bazar,  he  had  hastened  at  the  top  of  his  speed— not 
great  at  best,  for  he  is  a  very  fat  man — to  protect  the  hospital  and 
girls  school.  As  I  had  saved  his  brother’s  life  by  a  desperate  surgical 
operation  some  years  ago,  and  always  been  on  friendly  terms  with  him,  I  felt 
we  could  trust  him  to  do  his  best.  But  when,  a  few  minutes  later,  some  200 
soldiers  in  uniform,  with  fixed  bayonets,  filed  out  of  the  street  below 
and  marched  into  the  open  just  beyond  the  seminary,  I  felt  a  great  relief ; 
for  that  meant  that  the  government  intended  to  protect  the  Americans  at 
least.  From  the  upper  veranda  of  the  seminary  we  could  plainly  see  the 
crowd  of  plunderers  breaking  into  Christian  houses  and  carrying  off  house- 


452 


MASSACRE  AT  AINTAB. 


hold  goods.  We  could  see  the  brave  defense  made  by  some  of  the  Chris* 
tians  from  the  housetops  with  stones  and  firearms,  where  they  had  them,  and 
still  the  horrid  lu-lu-lu  of  the  Kurdish  women  rent  the  air,  mingled  with  the 
screams  of  the  conquered,  wounded  and  the  dying,  the  hoarse  cries  of  the 
men  and  the  frequent  reports  of  the  firearms.  An  attack  was  made  upon 
the  hospital  gate,  but  Hadji  Hussein  held  the  assailants  in  check  until  the 
soldiers  arrived  and  drove  them  off.  Clouds  of  smoke  from  a  fire  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  city  added  to  the  terror  of  the  women  servants  at  the  hos¬ 
pital,  some  of  whom  lived  in  that  neighborhood.  But  the  girls  at  the 
school  behaved  very  well  indeed.  About  noon,  seeing  that  there  was  no  im¬ 
mediate  danger  of  an  attack  upon  the  seminary  or  hospital,  I  left  Brother 
Sanders  there  and  returned  to  the  college.  Here  I  found  some  thirty  or 
forty  refugees,  mostly  stonecutters,  who  had  been  out  on  the  hills  at  work, 
and  a  few  women  and  children. 

“  Not  long  after  noon  the  disturbance  in  the  part  of  the  city  near  us  had 
mostly  ceased,  although  the  occasional  sound  of  guns  and  the  smoke  of 
burning  houses  from  the  central  part  of  the  city  showed  that  the  fiendish 
work  still  went  on;  and  a  continual  passing  of  villagers  with  bundles  of 
plunder  on  their  backs,  and  some  with  donkey  loads  and  camel  loads, 
showed  too  plainly  that  the  looted  area  must  have  been  considerable.  Al¬ 
though  not  anticipating  a  night  attack,  we  thought  it  wise  to  make  prepara¬ 
tions  for  one,  and  so  barricaded  the  most  defensible  of  the  buildings  on  the 
campus  for  a  rendezvous,  set  a  watch  and  retired.  But  there  was  not  much 
sleep.  Nothing  occurred  during  the  night,  and  a  cloudy  morning  broke 
above  the  city.  At  sunrise  the  villagers  had  already  begun  to  enter  the 
city ;  but  soon  after  that  the  soldiers  began  to  stop  them,  in  a  half-hearted 
sort  of  way,  allowing  them  to  congregate  in  large  numbers  a  short  distance 
away  from  the  line  of  soldiers.  About  eleven  o’clock  I  saw  through  my 
field-glass  a  captain  on  a  white  horse  (I  recognized  both  the  man  and  the 
horse)  approach  a  crowd  of  the  plunderers,  about  two  hundred  strong,  who 
had  been  driven  away  from  the  city,  upon  the  hill,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  so 
to  the  south,  and  make  a  harangue  to  them.  Then  he  turned  back  toward 
the  city  with  the  soldiers  who  had  been  holding  back  the  mob ;  and  before  they 
had  reached  the  city  the  whole  crowd  had  swarmed  past  them  and  entered 
the  streets ;  then  I  knew  the  scenes  of  the  day  before  were  to  be  repeated, 
so  taking  my  field-glass  I  mounted  to  the  college  tower  as  offering  a  better 
view.  I  did  not  have  long  to  wait  before  the  head  of  the  crowd  appeared, 


CHRISTIAN  QUARTER  LOOTED. 


453 


coming  up  through  Pasha  Street,  which  had  been  completely  looted  the  day 
before.  They  poured  out  of  the  street,  a  motley  crowd  of  Turkish  villagers, 
city  Kurds,  and  roughs  to  the  number  of  fifteen  hundred  or  so,  and  turning 
to  the  right  made  a  rush  for  the  Christian  quarter  of  Haik.  That  quarter 
has  a  strong  gate  across  its  entrance,  and  thirty  or  forty  Christians  were 
gathered  upon  the  housetops,  commanding  the  approach  to  this  gate,  armed 
with  stones  and  two  or  three  guns ;  and  with  the  advantage  afforded  by  their 
position  on  the  flat  roofs  they  held  the  mob  at  bay  for  three-fourths  of  an 
hour,  and  finally  drove  them  off.  Meantime,  on  the  north  side  of  the  city, 
I  saw  the  same  Yftzbashi  on  the  white  horse.  Here  there  were,  perhaps, 
one  thousand  plunderers  held  in  check  by  thirty  or  forty  soldiers.  Not  long 
after  the  Ytizbashi  made  his  appearance  in  that  quarter,  a  part  of  their  mob 
made  a  break,  and  some  two  or  three  hundred  of  them  rushed  into  a  small 
Christian  quarter  just  under  the  seminary  wall,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes 
were  to  be  seen  running  off  with  their  plunder.  In  the  case  of  both  these 
attacks  there  were  plenty  of  soldiers  standing  about  with  loaded  guns  and 
fixed  bayonets,  who  made  not  the  slightest  attempt  to  prevent  the  attack,  or 
to  scatter  the  mob ;  and  the  conclusion  was  irresistible  that  the  Yuzbashi  on 
the  white  horse  had  planned  the  attack  in  each  case,  or  at  least  had  signified 
to  the  mob  that  it  could  work  its  will.  But  his  plans  did  not  work  al¬ 
together  to  his  taste,  for  while  the  plunder  was  going  on  upon  the  north  side,  a 
Bimbashi  (colonel)  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  very  soon  the  soldiers  were 
firing  over  the  heads  of  the  mob  to  frighten  them,  and  they  were  flying  pell- 
mell  out  of  the  city.  I  wondered  at  the  time  that  they  should  be  so  much 
frightened  b)-  a  few  guns  fired  into  the  air  \  but  from  a  perfectly  reliable 
source  we  learned  that  the  Bimbashi  shot  four  of  the  mob  with  his  own 
hand,  which  would  account  for  the  celerity  with  which  they  dispersed.  I 
attempted  to  go  to  the  hospital  yesterday  morning  and  again  this  morning, 
but  was  not  allowed  to  do  so.  Mr.  Sanders  brought  word  that  the  wounded 
of  the  north  side  attack  yesterday,  had  been  taken  to  the  hospital,  and  one 
of  them  had  died  in  the  night,  others  being  in  a  bad  way.  Dr.  Hamilton 
had  cared  for  them  with  the  help  of  Miss  Trowbridge  and  Solomon,  our  sur¬ 
gical  assistant.  We  are  as  yet  unable  to  form  any  idea  of  the  number  of  the 
killed  and  wounded,  or  of  the  extent  of  the  plundering,  although  we  know 
of  four  outlying  Christian  quarters  that  have  been  entirely  looted.  The 
main  part  of  the  Christians  live  in  the  two  quarters  of  Haik  and  Kyajuk, 
which  have  so  far  escaped.  The  women  and  children  of  two  quarters  that 


i 


454 


CARING  FOR  THE  WOUNDED. 


were  entirely  looted  are  confined  in  the  mosques  of  the  quarters,  with  the 
choice  of  ‘  Islam  or  death ;  ’  but  if  not  murdered  before  that  time  will,  of 
course,  be  liberated  as  soon  as  the  government  gets  control  of  the  city  again. 
To-day  the  plunderers  from  outside  have  been  kept  out  of  the  city,  but 
villagers  have  been  freely  allowed  to  go  out  of  the  city  with  their  booty, 
until  just  now  as  I  write  this,  at  2  p.  m.,  a  company  of  mounted  gendarmes 
from  Aleppo,  which  arrived  this  morning,  has  been  sent  out  into  the  roads 
leading  out  of  the  city,  to  arrest  plunderers  and  take  their  booty  from  them. 

“  This,  I  take  it,  means  that  the  trouble  is  nearly  over.  How  I  wish  that 
I  could  get  into  the  city  to  look  after  the  wounded.  We  have  made  applica¬ 
tion  to  the  governor  for  permission  to  go  to  the  hospital,  but  have  as  yet 
received  no  reply;  yesterday  he  refused  a  similar  request,  and  as  there  is  a 
large  body  of  soldiers  between  here  and  there,  it  is  impossible  to  go. 

“  Sunday  Evening,  November  24th. 

“It  seems  at  least  a  month  since  I  wrote  the  first  part  of  this  letter. 
Tuesday  morning  I  was  allowed  to  go  into  the  city  to  see  the  Kaimakam 
and  the  ‘Alai  Pasha’ — military  commander — in  whose  company  I  found 
most  of  the  notables  of  the  Moslem  community.  I  appealed  to  them  for 
safe  conduct  for  the  wounded  to  be  brought  to  the  hospital  and  for  burial  of 
the  dead.  Both  of  which  requests  they  granted  ;  and  I  had  not  been  back 
at  the  hospital  more  than  half  an  hour  when  Dr.  Habib,  with  an  escort  of 
soldiers,  brought  in  some  fifty  or  sixty  patients.  We  were  soon  at  work,  and 
a  ghastly  set  they  were.  They  had  been  wounded  upon  the  Saturday  before, 
and  had  lain  either  exposed  to  the  weather  or  crowded  into  a  dirty  stable  all 
that  time.  Those  who  had  escaped  the  ministration  of  the  native  hakim 
were  fortunate ;  for  all  the  wounded  which  he  had  touched  were  in  a  terribly 
septic  state.  The  wounds  were  mostly  made  by  knives  or  swords  upon  the 
heads,  or  hands  and  arms  raised  to  ward  off  the  head  blows;  and  very  few 
of  the  poor  fellows  had  escaped  without  several,  and  some  of  them  had  ten 
or  a  dozen  cuts.  There  were  a  few  bayonet  and  gunshot  wounds  inflicted 
by  the  soldiers.  In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  just  as  we  began  to  con¬ 
gratulate  ourselves  that  we  were  getting  through  with  them,  a  batch  of  twenty- 
one  more  arrived,  which  kept  us  busy  until  dark.  Among  those  brought  in  that 
day  there  were  four  or  five  fractured  skulls,  and  two  arms  that  I  had  to 
amputate,  besides  several  other  very  severe  cases.  Three  of  them  have  since 
died.  .Each  day  since  there  have  been  some  new  cases  brought  in,  until  the 


CHRISTIANS  TERROR-STRICKEN. 


455 


number  of  wounded  that  we  have  treated  at  the  hospital  now  exceeds  150. 
We  have  as  yet  no  means  of  knowing  the  number  of  the  dead;  for  while 
they  readily  promised  protection  for  the  burial,  that  promise  was  not  carried 
out.  Most  of  the  Christian  dead  were  dragged  to  the  outskirts  of  the  city 
with  every  imaginable  indignity  and  either  burned  or  cast  into  the  old 
quarries  that  abound  upon  the  edge  of  the  city,  and  left  for  the  dogs  and 
vultures  to  eat.  Some  of  them,  after  being  thrown  into  these  pits,  were 
covered  out  of  sight  by  casting  stones  upon  them.  The  best  estimate 
obtainable  puts  the  number  of  the  killed  at  between  300  and  400  for  the 
Christians  and  10  or  12  from  the  Moslems.  The  massacre  began  in  the  market 
without  the  slightest  warning,  and  the  poor  unarmed  Christians  were  scattered 
like  sheep  before  their  well-armed  assailants,  who  outnumbered  them  three  to 
one.  The  carnage  soon  spread  from  the  bazars  and  markets  to  the  outlying 
Christian  quarters  of  the  city.  All  the  Christian  shops  were  plundered,  and 
four  outlying  wards,  mostly  occupied  by  the  poorest  classes.  When  the  mob 
reached  the  more  compact  Christian  quarters  of  the  city,  they  met  with  some 
vigorous  resistance;  and  many  of  the  streets  have  heavy  gates  which  weie 
closed,  and  some  of  them  well  defended  ;  so  their  progress  was  checked,  until 
night  came  down  and  put  an  end  to  the  scene.  So  far  as  I  can  learn  there 
was  no  attempt  made  by  either  the  government  or  the  Moslem  beys  and 
effendis  during  the  whole  of  that  terrible  Saturday  to  stop  the  killing  and 
looting,  except  that  they  hurried  a  large  force  of  soldiers  out  for  the  defense 
of  the  foreign  residents.  The  soldiers  took  part  in  the  pillage  and 
did  nothing  to  prevent  the  butchery,  although  not  doing  a  large  part  of 
the  latter  themselves.  The  following  day  they  began  to  repress  the  populace, 
as  I  have  already  narrated  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  letter,  and  up  to  the 
present  have  succeeded  in  preventing  any  further  general  outbreak;  but  the 
poor  Christians  are  terror-stricken,  and  all  of  them  await  their  death  in  their 
houses  or  the  churches.  Yesterday  there  was  a  determined  attempt  upon 
the  part  of  a  large  mob  to  attack  the  Christian  part  of  the  city,  but  the 
military  quelled  it  without  much  difficulty.  This  took  place  upon  the 
southern  side  of  the  city ;  and  while  the  soldiers  were  mostly  withdrawn 
to  tnat  side,  two  or  three  houses  were  looted  upon  the  northern  side  of 
the  city,  but  no  one  killed. 

“December  8th,  1895. 

“  The  time  drags  on,  with  no  great  change  in  the  situation.  There  has 
been  no  further  outbreak  since  my  last  writing,  and  the  strain  seems  some- 


456 


ATTACKS  UNPROVOKED. 


what  relaxed  ;  but  the  Christians  dare  not  stir  out  of  their  houses  yet,  and 
all  business  is  at  a  standstill.  The  college  is  still  shut  off  from  the  city  by  a 
cordon  of  soldiers ;  and  I  am  the  only  one  allowed  to  go  back  and  forth 
without  obtaining  special  permission  each  time  from  the  captain  of  the 
guard,  and  I  am  not  allowed  to  enter  the  city  except  with  a  guard  of  two 
soldiers.  This  is  ostensibly  for  my  protection,  but  practically  restricts  my 
intercourse  with  the  people  very  much,  and  debars  me  from  much  informa¬ 
tion  that  I  might  otherwise  obtain.  We  had  from  Judge  Terrell  a  telegraphic 
offer  of  an  armed  escort  to  the  coast,  where  a  United  States  cruiser  awaited 
us  ;  but  we  could  not  entertain  the  thought  of  leaving  these  poor  people  in 
their  terror  and  distress,  although  we  were  in  a  good  deal  of  anxiety  for  our 
women  and  children.  There  are  now  between  3,000  and  4,000  soldiers  in 
the  city,  and  so  long  as  they  remain  under  the  control  of  the  authorities 
there  is  no  danger  of  another  massacre.  There  are  rumors  among  the 
Moslems  of  a  commission  coming  here  this  week  to  investigate  the  massacre, 
and  they  are  in  a  good  deal  of  apprehension. 

“Yesterday  the  Kaimakam  asked  me  if  I  were  willing  to  go  to  Zeitun  on 
behalf  of  the  government  to  negotiate  for  peace.  I,  of  course,  expressed 
myself  as  willing  and  glad  to  do  so  if  the  government  would  offer  such 
terms  as  these  Zeitunlis  might  probably  accept,  and  he  proceeded  to  com¬ 
municate  with  higher  officials.  I  have  not  yet  had  any  further  advice  from 
him.  I  have  managed  to  get  a  half-day’s  rest  to-day  for  the  first  time  in 
three  Sabbaths.  Our  patients  are  all  doing  well,  except  one,  who  may  very 
likely  die  from  thrombosis  of  the  cerebral  sinuses.  The  best  information  I 
can  get  leads  me  to  place  the  killed  at  not  less  than  400.  The  attack  was 
wholly  unprovoked,  and  the  fact  that  not  more  than  ten  Moslems  were 
killed,  shows  for  itself  that  it  was  a  mere  butchery.  Women  and  girls  were 
not  molested  except  in  a  few  cases,  when  they  attempted  to  defend  their 
husbands  or  sons  ;  but  little  boys  were  killed  as  ruthlessly  as  the  men.  It 
has  been  a  terrible  time,  and  I  have  not  written  the  horrible  details  that  you 
must  have  before  you  in  order  to  realize  the  fiendish  brutality  of  the  affair. 
One  thing  which  has  made  it  particularly  hard  to  bear  has  been  the  impossi¬ 
bility  of  communicating  with  the  outside  world,  either  to  learn  what  is  going 
on  there  or  to  acquaint  others  with  the  state  of  things  here.  Our  letters 
have  been  intercepted  in  the  mails,  no  newspapers  allowed  to  reach  us,  our 
telegrams  not  sent,  etc. ;  and  when  we  have  attempted  to  send  special  mes¬ 
sengers,  they  have  been  arrested  and  treated  as  spies,  imprisoned,  and  we 


A  PERMITTED  MASSACRE. 


457 


think  in  two  cases  killed.  Letters  are  not  now  interfered  with  to  the  same 
extent  as  before,  and  if  things  continue  to  improve  I  shall  try  to  send  this 
by  next  post.  We  have  felt  that  the  Everlasting  Arm  was  underneath  us 
through  it  all,  and  it  has  been  a  great  pleasure  to  me  personally  to  be  able 
to  help  the  sick  and  wounded.  What  is  to  become  of  the  thousands  of 
homeless  widows  and  orphans  during  the  coming  winter?  Aintab  has 
escaped  with  little  loss  as  compared  with  many  places  ;  and  still  in  Aintab 
there  are  at  least  2,000  people  who  must  be  wholly  supported  by  charity  dur¬ 
ing  this  winter.” 

Three  days  after  the  attack  at  Aintab  came  the  massacre  at 
Marash.  There  had  already  been  one  outbreak  on  November 
1 3th,  and  for  four  weeks  there  had  been  increasing  disturbance, 
but  the  chief  massacre  occurred  on  the  18th.  As  to  the  first, 
an  eye-witness  wrote : 

“Thus  far  at  least  fifty  have  been  killed,  and  perhaps  300 
have  been  wounded,  some  of  them  fatally.  The  affair  is  at¬ 
tributed  to  a  quarrel  between  a  Mussulman  and  an  Armenian, 
in  which  the  Mussulman  was  fatally  injured.  This  was  on  the 
24th  of  October.  The  next  day,  after  the  man  was  buried,  the 
attack  began.  According  to  a  Turkish  official  the  outbreak 
would  have  occurred  in  any  case,  even  had  not  this  fatal 
altercation  precipitated  it.  The  disorder  commenced  on 
Friday,  the  25th.  Word  came  around  that  the  plan  had  been 
to  have  it  on  Sunday,  when  the  Armenian  population  would 
have  been  in  the  churches.  We  do  not  certainly  know  this. 
But  nothing  could  be  more  apparent  than  that  it  was,  at 
least,  a  permitted  massacre.  The  worst  occurred  after  the 
Mutessarif  had  sent  a  crier  around  three  times  to  order  the 
Armenians  to  open  their  shops  on  pain  of  fine.  Those  who 
obeyed  had  their  shops  pillaged.  This  is  only  too  significant. 
Not  a  Moslem  has  been  arrested  for  injuries  to  Christians.  A 
few  who  aided  the  Christians  have  been  arrested.  The  order 


45s 


LETTER  FROM  MARASH. 


of  the  day  now  is  gradually  to  arrest  the  Armenians  who  are 
prominent  in  influence  or  position.  Two  days  ago  the  pastor 
of  the  Third  Protestant  Church  was  imprisoned.  He  is  as 
innocent  of  any  political  crime  as  I  am.” 

As  to  the  second  attack,  the  following  letter  gives  an  in¬ 
teresting  account.  It  was  written  from  the  Girls’  College,  on 
the  mountain  just  outside  of  the  city: 

“Marash,  Nov.  26th. 

“We  survived  the  massacre  of  Nov.  18  th,  though  we  had  given  up  all  hope 
for  hours.  For  four  weeks  previously  Christians  had  been  shot  at  sight  in 
the  streets,  houses  plundered,  men’s  heads  put  on  pikes,  and  two  cases  in  my 
knowledge  where  little  girls  had  been  disemboweled.  It  was  a  reign  of  ter¬ 
ror,  culminating  in  the  butchery  of  the  18th.  Early  that  morning  the  three 
church  quarters  were  fired,  and  the  steady  report  of  the  guns  told  us  of  the 
work  of  annihilation. 

“  We  took  the  girls  (of  the  college)  and  crossed  the  seminary  yard  into  the 
one  occupied  by  the  Lees  and  McCalloms.  It  was  not  a  moment  too  soon, 
as  the  houses  overlooking  their  walls  were  then  being  plundered,  and  we 
plainly  saw  what  was  in  progress.  It  was  about  9  o’clock.  The  Arab  sol¬ 
diers  had  been  turned  loose  on  the  city.  A  number  of  regiments  were 
drawn  up  west  of  the  city  ready  to  lend  assistance  if  there  should  be  any 
opposition.  A  company  was  on  a  hill  near  us,  not  regulars,  but  still  in  uni¬ 
form,  to  see  that  no  one  interfered  here,  and  the  Arab  fiends  had  possession. 
I  cannot  now  describe  the  scenes  we  witnessed.  The  raiding  of  the  houses 
in  the  seminary  yard,  the  killing  of  our  two  men  and  a  third  riddled  with 
bullets.  Finally  they  were  held  up  and  chopped  and  hacked  with  the  sword 
as  mercilessly  and  with  as  little  purpose  as  a  child  attacks  a  mullein  head. 
After  the  soldiers  had  left  to  carry  away  a  load  of  our  academy  stores,  the 
old  women  and  children  came  in  to  carry  away  what  was  left.  It  seemed  the 
plan  that  everything  must  go.  I  had  said,  ‘  There  will  be  a  larger  and  bet¬ 
ter  organized  force  come  here,  for  they  may  think  we  can  resist.’  There 
were  290  people  in  the  two  houses,  chiefly  women  and  children,  and  as  still 
as  death ;  and  our  girls,  our  sweet-faced  girls,  who  tortured  us  with  no 
wailing,  but  looking,  in  a  heart-rendering  manner,  into  our  faces  for  the 
comfort  and  assurance  that  had  never  failed  before.  Everything  was  given 


STARVATION  ON  EVERY  HAND. 


459 


over.  The  smoke  and  dusk  were  closing  in  around  us.  The  seminary  yard 
was  nearly  finished.  A  lull  of  perhaps  a  moment.  We  peeped  through  the 
curtains  (Miss  B.  and  I),  and  turning  to  each  other,  quietly  said,  ‘They’ve 
come.  ’ 

“A  large  force  of  Arabs  was  in  the  street,  drawn  up  in  order,  each  with  his 
gun  ready  for  firing,  I  thought,  and  started  to  go  below  to  our  girls,  to  be 
with  them  to  the  last.  Someone  was  pounding  on  the  street  door,  and  we 
heard  friendly  calls.  Mr.  McCall om  gave  a  glance  at  his  wife  and  babies 
and  said,  ‘I  must  go,’  and  he  went.  The  calling  continued  and  we  were 
puzzled.  But  the  gate,  on  being  opened,  let  in  some  of  our  people  and  a 
colonel  who  had  come  with  a  guard — the  first  in  all  that  day.  We  had  seen 
the  man  on  horseback  in  the  afternoon,  riding  among  the  soldiers  and  play¬ 
fully  hitting  them  on  the  shoulders  as  if  pretending  to  drive  them  away. 
This  only  made  us  feel  sure  that  the  government  had  doomed  us  and  wanted 
a  pretext  for  trying  to  protect  us.  Fortunately  for  me,  the  two  wounded 
theologues  were  brought  in,  and  I  had  my  hands  full  till  midnight,  when  one 
of  them  died.  The  other  was  shot  and  hacked  up  terribly,  but  I  dressed  his 
wounds  and  he  is  still  alive.  The  condition  in  the  city  is  beyond  descrip¬ 
tion.  Starvation  on  every  hand ;  the  best  of  our  people  gone.  The  sol¬ 
diers  estimate  as  their  day’s  work  4,700  dead,  but  it  is  too  much.  They 
were  occupied  with  plunder.  One  young  man  was  given  the  alternative  of 
death  or  becoming  a  Moslem.  He  chose  death  and  they  struck  his  head  off. 
His  poor  body  was  taken  to  his  mother,  who,  taking  his  hand  and  kissing  it, 
said  :  ‘  Rather  so,  my  son,  than  living  to  deny  our  Lord  and  Saviour.’  He 
is  one  of  thousands  to  sacrifice  his  life  rather  than  deny  Christ.” 

This,  however,  was  not  all.  At  Zeitun,  not  far  away,  the 
Turkish  troops  had  made  an  effort  to  attack  the  Armenians. 

-  They  in  their  turn  arose,  made  the  Turks  prisoners,  fortified 
their  position  and  defied  the  government.  The  effect  was 
manifest  in  Marash,  which  was  made  the  headquarters  for 
the  troops  that  soon  came  pouring  in  to  put  down  this  sole 
instance  of  real  insurrection  in  the  whole  empire.  From  that 
time  on,  riot  in  greater  or  less  degree  was  continuous,  and 
every  Christian  in  the  city,  foreigner  and  native,  lived  in  con- 

27 


460  INDICATIONS  OF  TROUBLE. 

stant  terror.  For  more  than  three  months  the  brave  Zeitun 
men  held  out,  trusting  in  their  own  pluck,  skill  and  knowledge 
of  the  country,  and  at  last,  late  in  February,  1896,  the  Turkish 
Government  was  forced  to  give  them  honorable  terms  of 

peace. 

For  a  month  attention  was  specially  directed  to  Zeitun 
and  the  mountain  cities,  including  Adiaman,but  by  the  middle 
of  December  there  were  indications  that  trouble  was  to  break 
out  ao-ain  in  Urfa.  That  city  was  for  a  long  time  identified 
with  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  not  merely  by  Moslem  tradition,  but 
in  Christian  books.  It  was,  too,  the  seat  of  government  of 
Abgar,  the  Armenian  king,  to  whom,  according  to  Armenian 
historians,  Thaddeus  preached,  and  who  had  the  unique  honor 
of  a  letter  from  the  Saviour.  Here,  too,  was  the  home  of 
Ephrem  Syrus,  the  famous  ecclesiastic  of  the  earlier  Syrian 
Church.  Moslem  and  Christian  interest  and  pride  centered 
alike  about  the  place,  and  in  some  respects  there  was  excep¬ 
tional  Moslem  fanaticism.  In  the  city  was  a  single  American 
missionary  lady.  Anxious  for  her  safety,  the  missionaries  at 
Aintab  had  made  efforts  to  bring  her  there,  but  she  remained. 
Her  account  of  the  scenes  at  that  time  is  given  below : 

LETTER  FROM  A  MISSIONARY. 

u  We  bad  often  heard  that  the  Moslems  were  dissatisfied  with  the  attempt 
of  two  months  ago  which  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  only  4°  lives  and 
about  ^150,000  worth  of  goods,  the  plunder  of  600  shops  and  289  houses. 
After  this  the  Christians  were  all  completely  disarmed  by  the  government. 
Some  80  men  had  been  imprisoned,  and  we  feared  another  scene  of  terror. 

It  came  at  last  with  great  suddenness. 

“  On  Saturday,  December  28th,  the  firing  of  a  few  guns  in  the  Moslem 
quarter  south  of  us  proved  the  signal.  Immediately  an  immense  multitude 
gathered  on  the  hill  back  of  our  house.  The  guards  in  the  street  east  of  us 
went  to  meet  the  people,  fired  a  few  shots  over  their  heads,  and  then  allowed 


GREGORIAN  CHURCH  MASSACRE. 


461 


the  mass  of  wild  humanity,  thirsty  for  blood,  to  pass  into  the  city  and 
begin  their  work.  The  horrid  work  continued  until  dark.  Three  soldiers 
kept  the  mob  from  entering  our  street,  constantly  proclaiming  :  ‘  It  is  the 

house  of  a  foreigner,  and  it  is  forbidden  to  touch  her.’  We  find  by  count 
that  our  ‘shadow’  covered  17  houses  and  240  people.  The  mob  came  as 
far  as  to  enter  our  girls’  schoolrooms  in  the  churchyard,  and  they  broke 
open  the  third  door  below  us  on  the  street  and  plundered  the  house.  I 
saw  one  man  beaten  and  then  thrown  down  on  the  roof  just  opposite  to  me 
on  the  other  side  of  the  street.  The  Syrians  and  Roman  Catholics  were 
also  spared.  All  other  Christians  suffered  complete  loss  of  all  home  fur¬ 
nishings,  and  some  houses  were  burned.  The  number  of  killed  cannot  be 
less  than  3,500  and  may  reach  4,000.  Of  these  it  is  estimated  that  1,50° 
perished  in  the  great  Gregorian  church.  On  Saturday  that  portion  of  the 
city  was  hardly  touched,  and  great  numbers  of  Armenians  flocked  to  the 
church  for  safety  that  night.  Sunday  morning  the  work  began  again  at  day¬ 
break,  and  when  the  people  reached  the  church  the  soldiers  broke  open  the 
doors.  Then  entering,  they  began  a  butchery  which  became  a  great  holo¬ 
caust.  It  was  participated  in  by  many  classes  of  Moslems.  For  two  days 
the  air  of  the  city  was  unendurable;  then  began  the  clearing  up.  During 
two  days  we  saw  constantly  men  lugging  sacks  filled  with  bones  and  ashes. 
The  dragging  off  of  1,500  bodies  for  burial  in  trenches  was  more  quickly 
completed,  some  being  taken  on  animals.  The  last  work  of  all  has  been 
the  clearing  of  the  wells.  From  one  very  large  well  it  is  said  that  60  bodies 
were  taken.  It  is  well  authenticated  that  20  bodies  were  taken  from  another 
well.  About  300  persons  escaped  from  the  church  by  way  of  the  roof, 
which  was  reached  by  a  narrow  staircase  on  the  inside.  Shortly  after  noon 
on  Sunday,  some  fifteen  or  more  of  the  prominent  citizens  and  government 
officials  (not  including  the  Mutessarif,  or  the  military  commander),  preceded 
by  a  military  band  and  mounted  guard,  made  a  grand  parade  of  the  city. 
They  entered  our  yard,  and,  speaking  with  me  from  the  veranda,  they  as¬ 
sured  me  of  perfect  safety  and  begged  me  not  to  be  alarmed,  as  it  was 
‘  nothing  that  pertained  to  me.’  I  very  quickly  went  into  my  room. 

“  The  work  did  not  cease  until  dark  on  Sunday,  the  29th.  On  Monday 
the  Kurds  and  Arabs  were  prevented  from  entering  the  city,  the  firing  be¬ 
ginning  about  dawn.  All  day  Sunday  a  strong  guard  was  about  our  prem¬ 
ises.  A  captain  of  the  army  sat  on  his  horse  for  hours  at  our  northwest 
corner,  just  outside  of  the  church  premises.  Repeatedly  I  received  saluta- 


462 


PROTESTANT  PASTOR  KILLED. 


tions  and  assurances  of  perfect  safety  from  government  officials  during  that 
longest  day  I  ever  knew.  It  was  evident  that  the  utmost  was  done  to  pro¬ 
tect  me.  How  willingly  I  would  have  died,  that  the  thousands  of  parents 
might  be  spared  for  their  children  ! 

“  The  work  of  plunder  is  complete.  Literally  naught  remains.  By  ac¬ 
tual  count  only  ten  Protestant  houses  remain  untouched,  and  five  of  these 
are  in  the  district  which  I  have  spoken  of  as  my  shadow. 

“  Our  loss  of  life  is  105,  all  but  nine  being  men.  These  nine  include  two 
women  and  seven  children,  who  were  in  the  Gregorian  Church  when  it  was 
sacked.  Our  wounded  are  many.  I  have  eighteen  under  my  immediate 
care.  Most  of  these  have  several  severe  wounds.  One  has  n  ;  one  has  18; 
ghastly  sword  and  axe  cuts  on  head  and  neck.  There  are  a  few  gunshot 
wounds.  There  is  only  one  doctor  for  the  whole  city.  He  has  350,  and 
cannot  care  for  more,  nor  for  these  but  in  part.  He  came  at  my  call  to  see 
one  who  we  supposed  must  lose  his  hand,  dressed  the  arm  and  committed 
the  case  to  my  care.  Thus  far,  thank  God,  all  are  doing  well.  I  have 
found  three  persons  who,  like  myself,  are  inexperienced  in  such  matters ; 
but  they  are  proving  careful,  sensible  workers  with  me.  We  dress  most  of 
the  wounds  in  the  church.  Our  schoolrooms  (all  but  one,  used  as  head¬ 
quarters  of  our  guard)  are  crowded  with  some  250  or  300  of  the  most  forlorn 
and  needy.  Our  home  is  also  full.  Those  who  are  spared  to  their  families 
are  in  great  fear,  and  wish  to  be  near  me.  We  cannot  receive  all,  and  it  is 
hard  to  daily  turn  away  so  many.  Some  have  a  little  food,  found  in  their 
houses,  and  some  nothing.  One  of  the  several  great  men  who  have  called 
to  express  sympathy,  and  to  say,  Turkish  style,  1  It  was  from  God,’  has 
sent  provisions,  for  which  I  am  exceedingly  grateful. 

“  The  government  provides  about  200  loaves  of  bread  per  day  for  the 
poor.  But  all  this  kindness  will  soon  come  to  an  end,  and  utter  poverty  will 
be  the  lot  of  most.  The  Protestant  pastor,  the  Rev.  H.  Abouhayatian,  and 
several  efficient  members  of  the  church,  are  among  the  dead.  I  tried  to  se¬ 
cure  the  body  of  the  pastor,  but  failed.  His  children — six — they  im¬ 
mediately  granted  to  me. 

“The  custom  in  these  affairs,  so  general  in  Turkey,  seems  to  be  for  one 
party  to  rush  ahead  and  kill.  This  is  followed  by  another  party  which  hur¬ 
ries  off  the  women  and  children  to  some  mosque,  khan  or  some  Moslem  home 
temporarily  open  for  their  reception.  Lastly,  this  operation  is  followed  by 
the  stripping  of  the  house.  Children  often  get  separated  from  their  parents 


GREGORIAN  TEACHERS. 


463 


and  are  late  in  being  found.  One  of  the  earliest  offers  made  to  me  was  to 
undertake  finding  any  lost  if  I  would  send  in  the  full  name.  My  own  guards, 
twenty  in  number  since  Sunday,  do  my  every  bidding  as  if  I  were  a  queen. 
I  use  them  for  help  in  all  sorts  of  ways. 

‘‘Markets  are  closed,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  some  things  much 
needed.  We  have  had  but  forty-five  beds  given  back  to  us  of  those  plundered, 
and  a  few  pieces  of  copper  ;  as  yet  I  fail  to  secure  more,  or  instructions  as  to 
method  of  procedure  for  individuals  to  secure  stolen  goods.  The  govern¬ 
ment  has  large  numbers  of  beds  and  much  copper  ware  stored  for  return  to 
the  owners,  but  all  fear  to  stir  lest  the  end  has  not  yet  come. 

“The  aged  Bishop  of  the  Gregorians  was  spared,  but  only  one,  or  possi¬ 
bly  two  priests. 

“  Our  own  teacher  of  the  Boys’  High  School  and  several  Gregorian  teach¬ 
ers  were  killed.  I  believe  the  Gregorians  are  in  greater  suffering  than  the 
Protestants,  having  no  foreigner  to  do  for  them,  and  any  efficient  ones  spared 
are  afraid  to  venture  out. 

“  To-day  the  long-expected  soldiers  have  arrived — eight  or  nine  hundred. 
Our  city  has  been  guarded  (?)  by  resident  soldiers.  We  must  have  your 
prayers  and  your  pecuniary  aid.  How  are  the  people  to  live  through  this 
winter? 

“  Urfa,  January  7th,  1896.” 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


Character  of  the  Massacres. 

Massacres  at  Sivas,  Cesarea,  Birejik,  Bitlis,  and  the  Region  ©f  Mardin — Protection  by  the 
Turkish  Government  for  the  Jacobites — General  Survey — Place  and  Time  of  the  Mas¬ 
sacres — Victims  Exclusively  Armenians — Effort  to  Destroy  the  Strength  of  the  Nation — 
Motive — Responsibility  of  the  Turkish  Government  and  of  the  Sultan. 

THE  massacres  at  Sassun,  Trebizond,  Erzrum,  Harput, 
Aintab,  Marash  and  Urfa  were  in  some  respects  the 
most  important,  though  there  were  others  where  the  loss 
of  life  was  greater.  Those  included  Diarbekir,  where 
nearly  if  not  quite  2,500  were  slain  ;  Gurun,  in  the  moun¬ 
tainous  region  of  the  Taurus,  where  the  number  reached  3,000, 
and  several  where  over  1,000  perished.  With  regard  to  most 
of  these,  full  and  accurate  reports,  however,  are  as  yet  wanting. 
This  chapter  includes  briefer  accounts  of  certain  places,  to¬ 
gether  with  a  brief  survey  of  the  general  characteristics 
of  all. 

In  Central  Asia  Minor,  the  most  important  city  is  that  of 
Sivas.  It  is  the  capital  of  the  province  and  the  trade  centre 
of  a  large  section.  Its  population  is  Turkish  and  Armenian, 
the  Turks  being  largely  in  the  majority.  There  is  also  a 
considerable  Kurdish  element  both  in  the  city  itself  and  in  the 
mountainous  section  to  the  south.  The  following  account  of 

the  outbreak  was  received  from  a  perfectly  reliable  source: 
(464) 


MERCHANTS  AND  CLERKS  KILLED. 


465 

“The  outbreak  began  on  the  12th  (November)  and  was 
‘  permitted  ’  to  continue  for  seven  days  ;  during  this  ‘  bloody 
week’  about  1,200  Armenians  and  10  Turks  were  killed. 
Suddenly  at  noon,  as  if  at  a  given  signal,  the  Turkish  laborers 
seized  their  tools,  clubs,  or  whatever  was  at  hand  ;  soldiers, 
Circassians  and  police  with  their  arms,  all  under  command  of 
officers — aided  by  the  Moslem  women  and  children,  rushed 
to  the  market  to  begin  their  dreadful  work  of  killing,  stripping 
the  dead  and  looting  the  houses.  No  resistance  was  made 
by  the  Armenians,  who  seemed  overpowered  in  the  sudden¬ 
ness  of  the  onslaught,  the  number  of  their  armed  assailants 
and  the  relentless  ferocity  with  which  they  were  pursued  to 
their  death.  The  shops  of  the  Armenian  merchants,  whether 
wholesale  or  retail,  were  looted  by  the  rioters  and  soldiers. 
Many  of  the  merchants  and  their  clerks  were  killed  ;  thus  at 
one  blow  the  Armenian  element  was  eliminated  from  the 
trade  at  Sivas.  As  the  importing  business  had  been  in  their 
hands  almost  exclusively,  it  is  difficult  to  foresee  anything  to 
avert  the  impending  financial  disaster.  The  Armenian 
villagers  in  that  vicinity  have  been  robbed  of  everything,  and 
the  people  are  left  to  beg  and  die.  A  gentleman  in  high  official 
standing,  who  has  had  unusual  opportunities  for  information, 
uses  the  following  language  with  regard  to  this  affair:  ‘Don’t 
be  deceived  by  any  of  the  silly  government  statements  which 
attribute  all  these  massacres  to  Armenians.  It  was  a  deliberate 
plan  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  punish  the  Armenians. 
The  Sultan  was  irritated  because  he  was  forced  to  eive  them 

o 

reforms,  so  he  has  had  7,000  Armenians  killed  to  show  his 
power,  since  he  signed  the  scheme  of  reforms.  The  govern¬ 
ment  has  smashed  some  Turkish  shop  windows  to  show  that  the 
Armenians  did  it.’  Food  was  scarce ;  everything  was  carried 


GREAT  TRENCH  TO  HOLD  THE  DEAD. 


466 

off  from  the  Armenian  shops.  There  will  be  an  immense 
amount  of  suffering  all  over  the  country.  It  is  said  to  be  a 
fact,  that  the  Kaimakim  (Governor)  of  Gurun  telegraphed  to 
the  Vali  (Governor-General  of  the  Province)  at  Sivas,  saying 
in  effect,  ‘  You  may  rest  assured  that  there  is  not  an  Armenian 
left  in  Gurun.’  The  Armenians  at  Gurun  made  some  resist¬ 
ance  to  being  butchered  and  suffered  worse  for  it.  (Gurun 
is  a  large  village  about  twenty-four  hours  from  Sivas.  It  has 
a  population  of  10,000,  one-half  Armenians.) 

“As  the  fury  of  this  storm  of  blood  and  greed  subsided,  the 
stricken  Armenians  of  Sivas  slowly  gathered  the  mangled  and 
naked  bodies  of  their  kinsmen  to  their  cemetery,  where  a  great 
trench  had  been  dug  to  hold  the  horrid  harvest  of  death.  A 
single  priest  read  a  short  service  over  the  long  and  ghastly 
rank  ;  and  thus  was  closed  another  chapter  in  the  yet  unfinished 
story  of  cruelty,  lust  and  fanaticism.” 

West  of  Sivas,  in  the  ancient  province  of  Cappadocia,  is 
the  city  of  Cesarea.  It  has  a  large  Moslem  population, 
chiefly  Turkish  of  pure  blood,  as  is  the  greater  part  of  the  race  in 
that  section.  The  Christian  population  is  both  Armenian  and 
Greek,  the  former  being  largely  predominant  in  the  city, 
though  there  are  a  number  of  Greek  villages  in  the  plain. 

o  _ 

The  Armenians  here,  as  in  the  region  south  of  the  Taurus, 
use  Turkish  chiefly  and  are  noted  for  their  general  sturdiness 
of  character,  and  furnished  very  little  support  for  the 
Huntchagist  movement.  For  the  most  part,  their  relations 
with  the  Turks  have  been  friendly,  and  the  governors  of  the 
city,  which  is  in  the  province  of  Angora,  have  frequently  been 
men  of  character  who  have  endeavored  to  deal  justly  by  all 
classes.  Cesarea  being  outside  of  the  six  provinces  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  general  plan  of  reforms,  there  was  hope  that  it 


LOOTING  IN  STAAABOUL.  Scene  of  the  Riots,  Breaking  open  stores 
and  houses  and  stealing  the  goods  of  Armenians, 


MASSACRE  IN  STAMBOUL.  This  is  a  sketch  drawn  by  an  eye-witness  of  the  murder  of  Armenians  by  officers, 
Softas  and  Kurds  in  the  streets  of  Stamboul. 


MASSACRE  AT  CESAREA. 


469 

would  escape,  but  the  following,  from  a  letter  by  a  resident, 
will  tell  the  story  of  the  scenes  that  followed  close  upon  the 
news  that  came  from  other  places. 

“Cesarea,  December  2d,  1895. 

“At  last  the  storm  has  struck  us  and  the  horror  of  the  past  three  days  is 
beyond  description.  On  Saturday,  at  about  2  p.  m.,  one  of  our  school  boys 
rushed  into  my  room  crying :  ‘  The  destruction  has  begun  !  ’  I  hastened 
to  our  roof  and  saw  the  scene  which  has  so  often  been  enacted  of  late. 
Turks  beating  and  killing  every  Armenian  on  whom  they  could  lay  their 
hands.  Much  of  the  fiendish  work  was  carried  on  from  the  roofs  of  the 
houses,  for  here  in  Cesarea  a  large  portion  of  the  houses  have  flat  mud  roofs, 
and  one  can  go  nearly  everywhere  on  the  roofs,  they  being  practically  con¬ 
tinuous. 

“  Turks  swarmed  over  the  houses,  breaking  in  doors  and  windows,  stoning, 
beating,  cutting,  shooting  whoever  opposed  them,  and  many  who  did  not. 
I  succeeded  several  times  in  turning  back  the  crowd  from  the  roofs  imme¬ 
diately  adjoining  our  house,  but  beyond  that  I  could  do  nothing.  They 
evidently  had  strict  orders  to  let  us  alone.  .  .  .  No  special  guard  was  sent 
to  our  house,  but  by  calling  upon  passing  soldiers  I  got  temporary  men 
stationed  near  our  door,  but  they  would  stay  but  a  few  minutes,  then  were  off 
to  have  their  share  in  the  business.  However,  we  suffered  no  harm,  but  on  the 
contrary,  succeeded  in  protecting  many  whose  houses  were  attacked.  They 
came  rushing  over  the  roofs  and  up  the  ladder  which  I  placed  for  them,  until 
we  had  over  sixty  people  under  our  narrow  roof.  (Later  they  had  109.) 
The  strain  was  terrible  for  three  hours,  but  after  sundown  it  gradually 
quieted. 

“  Firing  on  the  mob  by  the  troops  was  absolutely  forbidden  until  special 
orders  to  fire  were  received  from  Constantinople.  This  order  was  delayed 
till  about  sunset.  I  have  this  direct  from  soldiers  and  believe  it  to  be  true. 
From  sunset  on  I  give  the  government  credit  for  making  honest  attempts 
to  restore  quiet.  On  Sunday  a.  m.  there  was  considerable  disturbance, 
quieted  by  noon.  I  then  succeeded  in  getting  two  soldiers  to  accompany 
me  to  the  governor — he  gave  me  six  men  for  a  guard.  This  morning  again 
there  was  disturbance,  and  a  house  near  was  attacked,  but  my  men  drove 
them  away.  The  worst  was  at  evening,  and  seems  to  be  past,  but  what 
has  been  passes  description.  To-day  I  have  been  about  looking  up  some 


470 


WOMEN  CUT  DOWN. 


persons  and  seeing  some  of  the  wounded.  Men  and  women  were  literally 
hacked  to  pieces;  certainly  several  hundred,  and  some  Turks  say  1,000 
were  killed. 

“Saturday,  7  p.  m.  Women  as  well  as  men  were  fearfully  handled. 
Several  thousand  fierce  fellows  came  from  the  neighboring  Turkish  villages 
to  help  on  the  diabolical  work,  and  many  women  were  carried  away.  This 
morning  I  was  told  that  a  bride  and  a  young  girl  had  been  taken  from  a 
neighboring  house  to  the  house  of  a  Turk  near  by.  The  husband  who  was 
in  the  market  at  the  time,  came  and  begged  me  to  help  him  get  them  back. 
On  going  to  the  Turkish  house  with  two  of  my  soldiers  I  found  that  the 
girls  had  not  been  ill  treated  and  the  house  owner  readily  gave  them  up. 
In  order  to  save  their  lives  they  had  said,  ‘  We  are  Moslems/  I  know  of 
other  Turkish  families  where  Christians  were  sheltered.  These  are  about 
the  only  bright  spots  in  a  very  dark  picture.  To  add  to  the  horror,  many 
houses  were  burned  and  some  perished  in  the  flames.  Dr.  Avedis  Effendi 
(an  influential  preacher  for  many  years),  with  wife  and  oldest  son,  were 
killed. 

“I  think  the  attack  here  was  a  concession  to  the  thirsty  mob,  who  could 
not  see  why  they  should  not  have  their  fling  as  well  as  those  in  Sivas  and 
elsewhere. 

“  Our  hearts  are  sick.  We  are  so  powerless  to  aid  and  comfort.  Our 
school  boys  are  all  safe. 

“  December  3d.  We  breathe  easier  this  morning,  but  I  cannot  be  sure  all 
danger  is  past.  The  method  taken  with  the  women  was  to  demand  that 
they  proclaim  themselves  Moslems.  If  they  refused,  as  many  did,  even 
girls  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  they  were  cut  down  mercilessly. 
This  fact  can  be  substantiated  with  the  utmost  ease.  Should  the  troops  with¬ 
draw,  worse  destruction  is  sure  to  follow.  Neighboring  villages  have  suf¬ 
fered  still  worse,  many  of  them  stripped  once,  and  twice,  and  thrice,  till 
nothing  is  left.” 

The  city  of  Birejik  is  on  the  Euphrates,  between  Urfa  and 
Aintab.  It  is  a  prosperous  place,  with  a  population  of  perhaps 
10,000  to  12,000,  overwhelmingly  Moslem,  partly  Turkish, 
partly  Arab  in  origin. 

“After  the  massacre  at  Urfa,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of 


ARMENIANS  DISARMED. 


471 


October,  1895,  authorities  at  Birejik  told  the  Armenians 
that  the  Moslems  were  afraid  of  them,  and  that  therefore  they 
(the  Armenians)  must  surrender  to  the  government  any  arms 
that  they  possessed.  This  was  done,  the  most  rigid  search 
being  instituted  to  assure  the  authorities  that  nothing  what¬ 
ever  in  the  way  of  arms  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Arme¬ 
nians.  This  disarmament  caused  no  little  anxiety  to  the  Ar¬ 
menians,  since  the  Moslem  population  was  very  generally 
armed,  and  was  constantly  adding  to  its  arms.  In  fact,  dur¬ 
ing  the  months  of  November  and  December  the  Christians 
have  been  kept  within  their  houses  because  the  danger  of 
appearing  upon  the  streets  was  very  great. 

“  Troops  were  called  out  by  the  government  to  protect  the 
people.  Since  the  soldiers  had  come  to  protect  the  Christians, 
the  Christians  were  required  to  furnish  animals  for  them  to 
carry  their  goods.  Then  they  were  required  to  furnish  them 
with  beds  and  carpets,  to  make  them  more  comfortable. 
Finally,  they  were  required  to  furnish  the  soldiers  with  food, 
and  they  were  reduced  to  a  state  bordering  on  destitution  by 
these  increasing  demands. 

“The  end  came  on  the  first  of  January,  1896,  when  the 
news  of  the  massacre  of  several  thousands  of  Christians  at 
Urfa  by  the  soldiers  appointed  to  guard  them  incited  the 
troops  at  Birejik  to  imitate  this  crime.  The  assault  on  the 
Christian  houses  commenced  about  nine  o’clock  in  the  morn¬ 
ing,  and  lasted  until  nightfall.  The  soldiers  were  aided  by 
the  Moslems  of  the  city  in  the  terrible  work.  The  object  at 
first  seemed  to  be  mainly  plunder;  but  after  the  plunder  had 
been  secured,  the  soldiers  seemed  to  make  a  systematic  search 
for  men,  to  kill  those  who  were  unwilling  to  accept  Moham¬ 
medanism.  The  cruelty  used  to  force  men  to  become  Moslems 


472 


OLD  MAN  TORTURED. 


was  terrible.  In  one  case  the  soldiers  found  some  twenty 
people,  men,  women  and  children,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  a 
sort  of  cave.  They  dragged  them  out  and  killed  all  the  men 
and  boys  because  they  would  not  become  Moslems.  After 
cutting  down  one  old  man,  who  had  thus  refused,  they  put 
live  coals  upon  his  body,  and  as  he  was  writhing  in  torture 
they  held  a  Bible  before  him  and  mockingly  asked  him  to 
read  them  some  of  the  promises  in  which  he  had  trusted. 
Others  were  thrown  into  the  river  while  still  alive,  after  having 
been  cruelly  wounded.  The  women  and  children  of  this  party 
were  loaded  up  like  goods  upon  the  backs  of  porters  and 
carried  off  to  the  houses  of  Moslems.  Christian  girls  were 
eagerly  sought  after,  and  much  quarreling  occurred  over  the 
question  of  their  division  among  their  captors.  Every  Chris¬ 
tian  home  except  two,  claimed  to  be  owned  by  Turks,  was 
plundered.  Ninty-six  men  are  known  to  have  been  killed,  or 
about  half  of  the  adult  Christian  men.  The  other  half  have 
become  Mussulmans  to  save  their  lives,  so  that  there  is  not  a 
single  Christian  left  in  Birejik  to-day.  The  Armenian  church 
has  been  made  into  a  mosque  and  the  Protestant  church  into  a 
mosque  school.” 

It  was  natural  that  after  the  Sassun  massacre  attention 
should  be  turned  to  that  section  of  country,  including  the 
cities  of  Mush,  Bitlis  and  Van.  In  Van  the  Armenians  are 
very  strong,  probably  not  outnumbering  the  Moslems,  who 
are  chiefly  Kurds,  but  so  important  an  element  that  in  a  strife 
they  would  be  able  to  defend  themselves  with  considerable 
success.  They  are  also  of  a  generally  higher  grade  of  intel¬ 
ligence  and  force  of  character  than  most  of  the  race,  and  have 

o 

always  been  held  somewhat  in  awe  by  the  Turks.  Their  vil¬ 
lages  in  the  vicinity,  however,  have  been  subject  to  constant 


LETTER  FROM  BITLIS. 


473 


raids  by  the  Kurds,  and  have  suffered  terribly.  Bitlis  is  one 
of  the  most  picturesque  cities  in  Turkey;  surrounded  by 
high  mountains  and  divided  among  the  valleys  so  that  it  is 
impossible  to  get  a  general  view  of  it.  It  is  almost  entirely 
cut  off  from  the  surrounding  country  by  the  snow  during  a 
considerable  part  of  the  winter,  and  is  at  all  times  difficult  of 
access.  The  population,  both  Kurdish  and  Armenian — there 
are  very  few  Turks — is  rough  and  uncouth  in  manners  and 
appearance.  It  has  always  been  a  turbulent  city,  and  it  was 
inevitable  that  it  should  feel  the  pressure  of  the  prevailing 
uneasiness  throughout  the  empire.  The  situation  is  thus 
graphically  described  by  a  letter  written  early  in  December, 
1895: 

“  The  summer  just  past  has  been  a  quiet  one,  interest  chiefly  centering  in 
the  work  of  distribution  at  Sassun,  where  the  gentlemen  have  been  laboring 
five  months,  annoyed  by  every  sort  of  opposition  and  insult  on  the  part  of 
the  Turkish  officials,  and  any  success  in  their  efforts  is  due  entirely  to  the 
presence  and  vigorous  support  of  the  British  Consul  for  Bitlis.  Proof  of  the 
quietness  of  the  region  and  of  the  confidence  all  felt  in  that  future  which 
was  to  be  so  wisely  provided  for  by  the  ambassadors  of  the  Christian  nations 
of  Europe,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  writer  made,  without  apprehension, 
the  four  days’  journey  from  Bitlis  to  Van,  with  the  intention  of  staying  a  few 
weeks  in  the  latter  city.  Three  weeks  later  the  storm  broke.  The  Sultan 
accepted  the  scheme  of  reforms.  The  Moslems  of  Bitlis,  forming  a  large 
majority  of  the  population,  and  more  fanatical  than  their  co-religionists  in 
other  cities,  had  told  the  Armenians  that  in  case  of  such  acceptance  the 
Turks  would  see  to  it  that  no  Christian  survived  to  be  benefited  by  a  new 
regime.  The  Armenians  behaved  most  prudently — knew  so  vaguely,  in 
fact,  how  much  or  how  little  the  reforms  promised,  that  they  manifested 
neither  elation  nor  anger. 

“On  Friday,  Oct.  25th,  the  Moslems  closed  their  shops  and  went  to  prayer 
in  the  mosques.  Soon,  at  a  given  signal — the  cry  that  the  Armenians  were 
attacking  the  mosques — the  Turks  rushed  forth,  closed  the  entrances  to  the 
bazars,  and  each  man  killed  every  Christian  he  could  find.  The  Armenians 


474 


SLAUGHTER  AT  BITLIS. 


made  no  resistance ;  they  had  no  arms  and  were  taken  by  surprise,  for  the 
governor  had  given  assurance  of  safety  but  the  day  before.  The  barracks 
were  close  by,  the  troops  should  have  been  on  the  spot  on  the  instant,  but 
some  time  elapsed  before  they  set  out  for  the  scene  of  slaughter,  and  when 
they  arrived  the  soldiers  dispersed  into  out-of-the-way  places  and  themselves 
took  part  in  the  butchery.  Repeated  bugle  calls  had  preceded  the  attack; 
after  three  hours  the  bugles  ‘called  off,’  the  slaughter  ceased,  and  the  work 
of  plundering  began;  and  in  this  the  troops  took  a  very  active  part.  Men, 
women  and  children  joined  in  carrying  off  everything  of  the  slightest  value ; 
goods,  materials,  instruments  used  in  the  trades,  and  what  was  of  no  use  to 
them  was  burned,  till  the  markets  were  swept  absolutely  bare. 

“The  number  of  slain  accounted  for  was  about  500,  but  the  actual  number 
must  far  exceed  that.  The  Turks  themselves  buried  fifty  Armenians  in  order 
that  it  might  be  supposed  that  so  many  Moslems  had  perished.  In  reality, 
only  one  was  known  to  have  been  killed.  The  governor  soon  after  impris¬ 
oned  forty  leading  Armenians,  and  with  threats  of  still  more  fearful  massacre 
tried  to  make  them  sign  a  paper  which  laid  the  blame  of  the  affair  on  the 
Armenians.  This  they  would  not  do,  but  so  great  was  the  pressure  that  not 
a  few  signed  the  following  statement  to  be  telegraphed  to  the  Sublime  Porte 
and  patriarchate  :  Several  ignorant  and  low  fellows  from  our  community, 
induced  by  evil  designs,  were  the  cause  of  this  trouble,  and  got  their  pun¬ 
ishment  in  being  killed.  We  that  are  left  are  loyal  to  the  Sultan  and  grate¬ 
ful  for  his  gracious  government.’  ” 

On  the  northern  edge  of  the  great  Mesopotamia  plains, 
fully  1,000  feet  above  the  plain,  is  the  city  of  Mardin.  It  is 
the  centre  of  the  Jacobite  community,  who  are  found  not 
merely  on  the  plain,  but  in  the  rough  and  mountainous 
country  through  which  the  Tigris  runs,  and  extending 
nearly  to  Bitlis.  There  are  few  Armenians,  but  the  Kurds 
are  very  powerful  and  very  hostile  to  all  Christians,  as 
has  already  been  described  in  certain  chapters  of  this  book. 
It  was  inevitable  that  they  should  look  with  considerable 
jealousy  upon  their  more  favored  comrades  glutted  with 
Armenian  plunder.  They  could  see  no  difference  between 


EYE- WITNESS’S  STORY. 


475 


one  Christian  and  another.  All  were  alike  infidels,  all  under 
the  ban  of  the  Prophet,  all  alike  proper  booty  for  them. 
They  therefore  gathered  in  numbers  in  the  mountains, 
attacked  whatever  villages  they  could  with  reasonable  safety 
and  came  up  to  the  borders  of  Mardin.  The  following  is 
from  an  eye-witness : 

“The  beginning  of  trouble  for  us  here  at  Mardin  was  determined  by  the 
outbreak  which  began  in  Diarbekir  after  the  midday  prayer  on  Friday, 
November  ist.  The  riot  continued  for  three  days;  Kurds  from  without  rid¬ 
ing  in,  looting  and  firing  shops  and  houses  adjacent  to  the  market.  When 
the  Kurds  were  expelled  from  the  city  and  the  gates  closed  against  them, 
they  turned  their  attention  to  the  villages.  These  one  after  another  were 
taken,  plundered,  and  in  many  instances  burned ;  the  massacres  being 
generally  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  resistance  made  by  the  villages.  A 
district  about  ninety  miles  long  and  fifty  broad,  east  of  Diarbekir  and  up  to 
the  borders  of  Sert,  in  the  province  of  Bitlis,  was  swept  by  this  hurricane  of 
destruction  wherever  Christian  villages  nestled  among  the  billows  of  this 
rolling  country.  We  are  not  yet  in  position  to  estimate  the  number  of 
killed  and  wounded  in  cities,  towns  and  villages. 

“The  first  intimation  that  the  wave  of  wanton  wreckage  was  moving 
southward  was  given  in  the  attack  upon  Tel  Ermin,  Wednesday,  November 
6th.  This  papal  Armenian  town  of  200  houses  and  60  shops,  five  hours  (20 
miles)  west  of  Mardin,  was  taken  on  the  following  day,  plundered  and 
burned.  The  next  day  Goeli,  a  Syrian  village  south  of  Mardin,  and  only 
two  hours  (8  miles)  off,  shared  the  same  fate.  At  about  the  same  time  three 
other  villages  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Kurds,  and  only  one,  20  minutes 
north  of  the  city,  remained  intact.  This  they  tried  to  capture,  but  were 
driven  back.  The  Kurdish  tribes  on  every  side  were  determined  to  attack 
Mardin  after  finishing  their  destruction  of  the  villages.  Meanwhile  the 
local  government  was  actively  preparing  for  defense  and  the  leading  men  of 
the  city,  both  Moslems  and  Christians,  in  a  most  fraternal  spirit,  joined 
their  efforts  to  those  of  the  government  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  what  had 
occurred  at  Diarbekir.  On  Saturday  and  Sunday,  November  9th  and  10th, 
three  serious  attempts  were  made  by  the  Kurds  to  enter  the  city,  in  the  hope 
that  they  would  be  aided  from  within.  In  this  they  were  disappointed, 


476 


REFUGEES  COLLECTED. 


especially  when  they  were  fiercely  attacked  by  the  very  parties  on  whom 
they  were  relying  to  let  them  in.  They  were  obliged  to  draw  off  with 
severe  loss.  The  Kurds  persistently  asserted  that  a  firman  for  the  slaughter 
of  the  Christians  had  been  given,  but  that  the  Christians  of  Mardin  had 
bribed  the  government  to  conceal  it  and  defend  them.  When  the  Kurds 
realized  that  the  government  and  city  were  a  unit  for  the  common  defense, 
they  drew  off  and  the  tide  of  attack  swept  farther  east,  taking  Nisibin  and 
some  twenty  Christian  villages  in  its  wray.  Many  of  the  latter  were  also 
burned.  Midyat,  like  Mardin,  resisted  all  attacks. 

“  result  of  all  this  is  that  already  some  3,500  refugees  are  collected  here 
with  a  prospect  of  more  to  follow.  In  the  village  of  Kulleth,  nine  hours 
(36  miles)  east,  300  refugees  from  the  Diarbekir  plain  are  begging  food  and 
clothing.  The  entire  Christian  population  remaining  in  Sert  have  been 
stripped  of  everything.  Large  measures  of  relief  will  need  to  be  instituted 
before  winter  is  over,  or  thousands  will  die  from  exposure  and  hunger.” 


Similar  scenes  occurred  in  other  places.  There  was,  in 
general,  however,  considerable  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
government  to  protect  these  Jacobite  Christians.  In  the  city 
of  Mosul,  the  governor’s  orders  were  very  positive  that  there 
be  no  trouble  at  all,  and  in  numerous  villages  the  soldiers  not 

merely  drove  off  the  Kurds,  but  escorted  the  villagers  to 
places  of  safety. 

A  general  survey  of  the  massacres  brings  out  certain  very 
distinct  facts,  which  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  considering 
their  nature  and  their  effect. 

1.  With  only  five  exceptions  of  consequence,  the  massacres 
were  confined  to  the  territory  of  the  six  provinces  in  Eastern 
Turkey  where  reforms  were  to  be  instituted.  These  places 
were  Trebizond,  Marash,  Aintab,  Urfa  and  Cesarea.  Every 
other  massacre  of  any  prominence  occurred  within  the  very 
provinces  for  which  the  reforms  were  promised.  In  those 
four  places  the  Moslems  were  excited  by  the  nearness  of  the 


GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  MASSACRE.  477 

scenes  of  massacre  and  by  the  reports  of  the  plunder  which 
the  other  Moslems  were  securing-. 

o 

2.  The  massacre  in  Trebizond  occurred  just  before  the 
Sultan,  after  months  of  every  kind  of  opposition,  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  give  his  assent  to  the  scheme  of  reforms,  and  from 
there  the  wave  spread  over  the  whole  empire. 

3.  The  victims  were  almost  exclusively  Armenians.  The 
large  Greek  population  in  Trebizond  and  also  in  the  vicinity 
of  Cesarea,  suffered  scarcely  at  all,  and  the  Jacobite  popula¬ 
tion  in  the  region  of  Mardin  not  more  than  would  necessarily 
be  expected  from  the  incursions  of  the  Kurds.  Special  care 
was  taken  to  avoid  injury  to  the  subjects  of  foreign  nations, 
apparently  with  the  idea  of  escaping  foreign  complications 
and  the  payment  of  indemnities.  The  damage  done  to 
American  buildings  in  Harput  and  in  Marash  was  apparently 
in  direct  disobedience  to  special  orders  sent,  and  in  those 
places,  as  well  as  in  Aintab,  Urfa,  Cesarea,  Bitlis,  Marsovan, 
and  indeed  in  every  place  where  there  were  foreigners,  the 
strictest  orders  were  given  that  no  harm  whatever  should 
come  to  them.  A  notable  instance  of  this  was  in  the  city  of 
Urfa,  where  an  American  lady  missionary  was  protected  by 
troops  from  the  fana.tical  Moslem  populace  even  at  consider¬ 
able  risk  to  themselves. 

4.  With  slight  exceptions,  the  method  was  to  kill  within  a 
limited  period  the  largest  number  possible  of  Armenian  men, 
especially  those  of  capacity,  intelligence  and  wealth,  and  to. 
ruin  their  families  by  looting  their  property.  Thus,  in  the  city 
of  Ak-Hissar,  not  far  from  Nicomedia,  the  order  was  distinctly 
given,  “  Kill  the  men ;  the  women  and  children  will  then  fall 
to  us.”  In  several  places  the  most  explicit  promises  had  been 
given  that  there  would  be  no  danger  to  those  who  opened 


478 


THE  PLUNDER  COMPLETE. 


their  shops,  and  yet  in  almost  every  place  a  sudden  and 
simultaneous  attack  on  the  market-place  was  made  just  at 
noon  when  shop-keepers  and  clerks  were  in  their  shops  and 
unable  to  flee.  The  perpetrators  were  also  in  almost  every 
place  the  resident  Moslem  population,  reinforced  by  Lazes, 
Kurds  and  Circassians.  Exception  must  be  made  of  certain 
cities,  as  Erzrum,  Erzingan  and  Harput,  and  to  a  degree, 
Aintab,  where  the  soldiers  of  the  regular  army  took  a  part  in 
the  work,  and  in  two  instances  commenced  and  closed  the 
massacre  itself  at  the  signal  of  the  bugle.  In  a  few  instances, 
as  at  Diarbekir,  Arabkir,  Malatia  and  Gurun,  the  Armenians 
undertook  to  defend  themselves,  and  in  those  places  the 
slaughter  was  terrible,  reaching  not  less  than  2,000,  and  in 
some  cases  3,000.  The  plunder  was  complete.  The  shops 
were  absolutely  gutted,  even  the  doors  and  windows  of  the 
houses  were  carried  away,  and  in  the  market-places  not  a 
single  article  of  merchandise  could  be  found.  In  many  places 
even  the  clothing  worn  by  men,  women  and  children  was 
stripped  from  them  and  they  were  obliged  to  flee  naked. 

5.  The  motive,  so  far  as  it  has  to  deal  with  their  religious 
fanaticism,  is  dwelt  upon  in  a  succeeding  chapter.  So  far  as 
the  political  element  was  concerned,  it  was  evidently  a  firm  re¬ 
solve  to  crush  out  the  only  element  of  the  Christian  popula¬ 
tion  which  appeared  to  have  any  chance  of  asserting  itself 
against  the  Moslem  Government.  The  Moslems  everywhere 
^ felt  that  their  supremacy  was  at  stake,  and  that  unless  these 
'Armenians  were  thoroughly  suppressed,  they  would,  with  the 
support  of  Europe,  gain  the  upper  hand.  Only  thus  can  be 
explained  the  apparent  destruction  of  the  best  of  the  tax- 
paying  element  in  the  empire.  The  thought  was  to  make 
sure  of  their  political  supremacy,  and  no  other  way  of  secur- 


PRESSURE  FROM  EUROPE. 


479 

ingr  this  could  be  conceived  than  by  diminishing-  the  number 
of  the  Armenians  and  utterly  destroying  the  power  of  the 
survivors. 

6.  The  responsibility  for  this  whole  movement  must  rest 
with  the  Central  Government  at  Constantinople.  A  brief  sur¬ 
vey  of  the  events  in  their  chronological  order  will  make  this 
apparent.  The  trouble  in  the  Sassun  region  commenced  in 
*893  with  contests  between  the  Armenian  villagers  and  the 
Kurds,  in  which  the  Kurds  were  worsted.  They  appealed  to 
the  Turkish  Government,  which  supported  them  with  regular 
troops.  Officials  went  to  the  Armenians,  charging  them  with 
revolution.  This  charge  was  denied;  absolute  loyalty  to  the 
Sultan  was  avowed,  and  subsequent  investigations  of  the  com¬ 
mission  proved  that  this  avowal  was  genuine.  The  fact  of 
the  appearance  of  an  occasional  member  of  the  revolutionary 
party  by  no  means  involved  the  endorsement  of  that  party  by 
the  entire  community.  During  1894  the  pressure  from 
Europe  became  more  and  more  strong,  and  through  various 
sections  of  the  country  went  the  statement  by  officials  and 
by  priests  that  there  was  an  organized  effort  to  make  the 
Armenians  supreme  and  to  destroy  the  Turkish  power.  The 
massacres  at  Sassun  in  the  fall  of  1894  were  absolutely 
unprovoked,  as  has  been  shown  above.  The  statements  of 

Turkish  Government  with  regard  to  them  were  proven  to 
be  absolutely  false.  The  men  who  were  directly  responsible 
for  them  were  honored  by  the  Sultan  himself  with  decoration 
and  promotion.  Ihen  followed  the  summer  of  1895,  during 
which  repeated  pressure  from  the  European  powers  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  Turkish  Government  for  reform, 
and  as  persistently  refused  by  that  government.  If  it  be 
granted  that  the  disturbance  in  Constantinople  was  occasioned 


480 


GOVERNMENT  IMPLICATED. 


by  unwise  action  of  Armenian  revolutionists,  the  not  by  the 
Softas,  which  was  not  checked  by  the  Turkish  Government,  was 
allowed  as  an  indication  of  what  might  happen.  The  massa¬ 
cre  atTrebizond  commenced  in  the  courtyard  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  house,  and  the  governor  himself  was  in  diiect  tele¬ 
graphic  communication  with  Constantinople  throughout  the 
whole  massacre.  From  Trebizond  the  wave  spread  southward 
and  then  in  every  direction  over  the  empire.  In  every  case 
promises  made  by  officials  of  the  Turkish  Government  were 
not  only  not  kept,  but  were  ostentatiously  disregarded.  In 
every  case  the  police  or  soldiers  of  the  regular  army  either 
looked  on  and  did  nothing  to  hinder  the  massacre  and  pillage, 
or  took  a  direct  share  in  it.  The  conduct  of  the  Turkish 
Government  throughout  the  whole  and  since,  in  absolutely  de¬ 
nying  statements  that  were  perfectly  well  known  to  be  true; 
in  making  misrepresentation  upon  misrepresentation ;  in 
throwing  obstacle  after  obstacle  in  the  way  of  those  who 
would  bring  relief  to  the  people,  and  in  its  methods  of  treat¬ 
ment  with  the  foreign  Powers,  makes  it  very  evident  that 
it  understood  the  situation,  but  did  not  wish  it  known. 

To  suppose  that  all  this  could  happen  through  a  series 
of  years  and  months  without  the  immediate  knowledge 
of  the  government,  is  to  assume  that  the  government  is 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  most  important  details  of  its  ad¬ 
ministration,  and  no  one  who  has  followed  the  course  of 
Turkish  history  for  the  past  three  years  will  admit  that 
this  is  possible.  The  officials  in  Constantinople  knew 
just  exactly  what  was  going  on  over  their  empire  and  did 
absolutely  nothing  to  hinder  it.  Whether  direct  orders  were 
sent  from  Constantinople  to  the  local  officials  instructing  them 
as  to  the  day  and  hour  of  commencing  and  closing  the 


SULTAN  RESPONSIBLE. 


481 


massacres,  it  is  probably  impossible  to  say.  There  are  many 
things  that  point  in  that  direction,  but  it  will  require  later  and 
more  full  investigation  to  establish  that  fact.  As  to  the 
personal  responsibility  of  the  Sultan,  various  positions  have 
been  taken.  He  has  been  described  as  so  kindly  and  cor¬ 
dial,  so  sympathetic  with  his  people,  as  to  be  utterly  incapable 
of  having  anything  to  do  with  such  wholesale  destruction  in 
his  empire.  The  secrets  of  the  Palace  are  not  yet  known. 
It  is  sufficient,  however,  to  say  that,  with  possibly  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  Mahmud  II,  no  Sultan  has  ever  lived  who  gave  such 
minute  attention  to  the  administration  of  the  internal  affairs 
of  his  empire.  To  suppose  that  he  was  ignorant  is  to  belie 
his  whole  past  history ;  to  suppose  that  he  knew,  but  could 
not  prevent,  is  to  credit  him  with  a  weakness  that  would  be 
indignantly  repudiated  by  every  Turk  in  the  empire. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


Religious  Persecution. 


Motive  of  the  Massacres — Primarily  Political,  then  Religious— The  Religious  Element 
Overpowering  the  Political— Dread  of  Christian  Domination— False  Statements  by  the 
Turkish  Government— Instances  of  Persecution  and  Enforced  Conversion  to  Islam— A 
Tremendous  Moral  Disaster — Efforts  of  the  Government  to  Suppress  Reports. 


HE  previous  chapters  have  been  confined  chiefly  to  the 


JL  physical  aspects  of  the  massacres.  There  has  been, 
however,  another  side  that  is  even  more  appalling,  and  that 
is  the  moral  and  religious  disaster.  The  question  is  often 
asked  whether  this  is  a  religious  persecution.  The  question 
is  not  an  altogether  easy  one  to  answer.  From  one  point  of 
view  it  is  purely  religious,  from  another,  purely  political. 
The  truth  probably  is,  that  in  the  East  the  two  are  so  insep¬ 
arably  associated  that  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  accurately 
between  them.  To  the  Moslem,  every  Christian  is  either  a 
slave  or  an  enemy,  to  be  taxed  for  service  or  to  be  destroyed. 
So  long  as  the  Armenians  made  no  effort  for  political  power, 
they  were  slaves  ;  the  moment  they,  showed  hostility  to  or 
impatience  with  Moslem  rule,  they  became  enemies.  It  made 
no  difference  whether  that  hostility  was  actual  or  not ;  if  it 
had  any  existence  in  the  minds  of  the  Turks  the  result  was 
the  same.  It  is  unquestionable  that  there  was  a  widespread 


(4B2) 


FORCED  CONVERSION. 


483 


belief  among  the  Turks  that  Moslem  rule  was  in  danger,  not 
merely  from  the  revolt  of  the  Armenians,  but  from  the 
assistance  assured,  as  they  believed,  to  the  Armenians  by  the 
European  Powers.  Hence,  first  of  all,  their  hostility  was 
directed  against  them,  and  so  far  it  was  distinctively  political. 
They  began  to  realize,  however,  that  murder,  pure  and  simple, 
was  not  going  to  accomplish  their  purpose.  How  was  it  to 
be  done  ?  There  was  only  one  other  method — forced  conver¬ 
sion.  What  this  means,  no  one  who  has  not  had  some 
personal  knowlege  of  Mohammedan  lands  can  fully  imagine. 
To  the  political  hate  and  savage  desire  for  plunder  was 
added  the  ferocity  of  Moslem  propaganda.  Any  one  who 
has  read  in  history  the  record  of  religious  persecutions  can 
form  a  faint  conception  of  what  that  means,  but  to  under¬ 
stand  to  the  full  is  given  to  few  people.  At  the  risk  of 
occasional  repetition  we  give  some  instances  of  the  manifes¬ 
tation  of  this  destructive  religious  character  of  the  massacres. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  parallel  with  forced  conversion  has  gone 
the  outraging  of  women.  So  long  as  the  chief  idea  seemed 
to  be  the  suppression  of  a  supposed  political  revolt,  or  the 
looting  of  property,  this  was  not  so  noticeable.  The  moment, 
however,  that  religious  fanaticism  came  to  the  front,  the  most 
brutal  sensuality  was  made  manifest.  A  significant  com¬ 
ment  on  Mohammedanism. 

“At  Chunkush,  in  the  province  of  Diarbekir,  there  were 
6,000  Armenian  Christians.  On  the  4th  of  November,  the 
first  attack  was  made  and  the  town  was  partially  pillaged. 
On  the  8th,  nth  and  14th  of  November,  these  attacks  on  the 
Christian  houses  were  repeated.  The  Protestant  church, 
school  and  parsonage,  and  many  other  buildings  were 
burned  by  the  Turks.  880  Armenians  were  butchered,  and 


STARVING  THE  CHRISTIANS. 


484 

the  remainder  were  forced  to  accept  Mohammedanism  at  the 
point  of  the  sword. 

“In  Palu,  in  the  same  province,  in  the  month  of  August,  the 
governor  called  upon  the  Christian  notables  and  told  them 
that  he  had  received  orders  to  tell  them  that  the  Sultan  had 
decided  to  introduce  reforms,  but  that  the  reforms  would  be 
with  the  sword.  This  speech  reported  to  the  British  Embassy 
at  the  time,  led  to  the  removal  of  the  governor.  On  the  5th 
of  November,  this  town  was  plundered  by  the  Kurds  and 
Turkish  troops  with  but  little  shedding  of  blood.  On  the 
nth  of  November,  the  attacking  force  returned,  and  out  of 
a  total  Christian  population  of  2,400  they  slaughtered  1,580 
souls.  The  Protestant  chapel  was  demolished,  and  the  school 
and  parsonage  were  taken  as  barracks  for  the  troops.  On 
the  10th  of  December,  but  300  Christians  were  left  in  Palu, 
and  they  were  at  the  point  of  perishing  with  hunger.  The 
government  issued  bread  to  keep  them  alive,  but  the  public 
ovens  refused  to  sell  to  Christians.  The  policy  seemed  to  be 
to  keep  the  people  at  the  point  of  deepest  misery,  in  order 
to  force  them  to  become  Mohammedans.  The  distribution 
of  bread  by  the  government  consisted  of  the  filling  of  several 
baskets  with  pieces  of  bread  and  emptying  the  baskets  into 
the  street  for  the  people  to  scramble  for  the  bread.  A 
number  of  Christian  families,  driven  by  hunger,  fled  to  the 
city  of  Harput,  about  thirty-five  miles  away,  where  there  is  a 
Governor-General.  They  hoped  that  this  high  Turkish  of¬ 
ficial  would  at  least  give  them  protection  and  bread  to  eat, 
since  it  had  been  announced  that  the  government  intended 
to  feed  all  the  suffering  ones.  On  arrival  at  Harput,  how¬ 
ever,  they  were  bitterly  disappointed.  They  were  simply 
put  under  arrest  and  sent  back  to  starve  at  Palu.  At 


AFTER  THE  SLAUGHTER.  Scene  from  an  actual  Photograph,  showing  how  the  able-bodied  defenseless  Arme¬ 
nians  were  butchered  in  great  numbers  and  left  where  they  fell. 


MOHAMMED  OR  DEATH. 


487 

Severek,  in  the  province  of  Diarbekir,  out  of  a  Christian 
population  of  2,900,  nearly  all  of  the  males,  in  all  750  per¬ 
sons,  were  killed.  This  left  the  authorities  free  to  regard  all 
the  women  and  children  as  Moslems,  and  they  were  dis¬ 
tributed  among  the  Mohammedan  populace  to  be  taken  into 
their  houses. 

“At  Ur  fa,  after  the  massacre  and  pillage  which  took  place 
on  the  27th  and  28th  of  October,  the  police  went  around 
from  house  to  house  in  the  Christian  quarter  announcing 
that  the  people  must  accept  Mohammedanism.  They  car¬ 
ried  axes  to  break  open  the  doors.  All  who  refused  they 
killed  on  the  spot.  Those  who  accepted  the  offer  were  re¬ 
quired  to  put  white  turbans  on  their  heads  and  to  hang  white 
flags  on  their  houses.  The  number  of  white  flags  displayed 
seemed  innumerable  after  three  days  of  this  sort  of  work. 
Shortly  after  this  a  storm  arose  which  carried  away  many  of 
the  white  flags.  They  were  not  renewed,  since  the  people 
understood  that  the  government  would  not  recognize  these 
forced  conversions.  But  on  the  28th  and  29th  of  December, 
these  people  were  attacked  by  the  Turks  and  over  1,500  of 
them  were  killed  as  apostates  from  Islamism.  At  Albistan, 
in  the  same  province,  after  the  massacre  began,  the  people 
were  overpersuaded  by  the  assurance  that  all  the  Christians 
in  the  empire  were  being  killed,  and  nearly  the  whole 
Christian  population  accepted  Mohammedanism  on  this 
representation. 

“At  Adiaman,  in  the  province  of  Harput,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  same  story  was  used  without  effect,  and  out  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  population  of  800,  only  20  were  left  alive.  At  Husenik, 
in  the  province  of  Harput,  the  Armenian  priest  was  tortured 
to  force  him  to  become  a  Mohammedan.  On  his  persistent 


488 


HOURLY  FEAR  OF  MASSACRE. 


refusal,  and  while  he  was  still  living,  his  body  was  obscenely 
mutilated,  and  at  last  the  poor  man  found  rest  in  death.  The 
Protestant  preacher  in  this  village  and  a  large  number  of  the 
people  accepted  Mohammedanism  in  order  to  escape  the  fate 
inflicted  upon  this  martyred  priest.  At  Gamirgab,  in  the 
same  province,  after  the  Turks  and  Kurds  had  pillaged  all 
the  Christian  houses,  they  burned  70  houses  which  could  be 
fired  without  endangering  the  Turkish  houses,  and  removed 
doors  and  windows  from  the  remainder  so  as  to  render  them 
uninhabitable.  The  head  master  of  the  government  school  in 
the  place,  one  Ali  Effendi,  then  called  the  Christians  together, 
and  told  them  he  would  order  them  massacred  at  once  if  they 
did  not  accept  Mohammedanism.  The  people  accepted  the 
new  religion,  but  appealed  for  relief  to  their  bishop  at  Egin. 
On  demand  of  the  bishop,  the  governor  ordered  that  these 
new  converts  should  be  released  from  their  promise  of  con¬ 
version,  and  now  the  people  live  in  hourly  fear  of  massacre 
as  apostates  from  the  Mohammedan  faith. 

“At  Arabkir,  in  the  province  of  Harput,  on  the  6th  of  No¬ 
vember,  Turkish  civilians  aided  by  soldiers  suddenly  made  an 
attack  upon  the  Armenian  shops  in  the  market.  Arabkir 
had  an  Armenian  population  of  about  18,000,  and  a  Turkish 
population  of  about  30,000.  When  the  Turks  began  to 
attack  the  Armenian  houses,  the  Armenians  resisted.  Then 
the  authorities  called  in  Kurds  from  the  surrounding  region 
and  made  a  systematic  destruction  of  the  Christian  quarters 
of  the  city.  The  horrible  work  lasted  six  days,  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time  4,000  Christians  had  been  killed,  and  2,750 
Christian  houses  had  been  burned.  Many  of  the  survivors 
accepted  Islamism  in  order  to  escape.  All  alike,  however, 
were  stripped  of  everything  they  had  in  the  world,  and  in 


a  survivor’s  narrative. 


489 

some  cases  even  of  their  clothing.  The  narrative  of  one  of 
the  survivors,  an  entirely  trustworthy  woman,  gives  a  vivid 
impression  of  the  horror  of  the  experience :  “  On  the  5th  of 
November,  our  Turkish  neighbors,  with  whom  we  have  always 
been  on  good  terms,  came  to  tell  us  that  orders  had  come  to 
kill  the  Christians,  but  that  seeing  our  house  was  next  to 
theirs  they  would  like  to  help  us,  and  that  if  we  would  pay 
them  for  it  they  would  defend  us.  After  some  bargaining  it 
was  agreed  that  we  should  pay  them  $25.00  for  the  service. 
This  was  not  easy  to  find,  but  we  gathered  all  the  money  that 
we  had  and  what  jewels  we  possessed,  and  so  satisfied  them. 
On  Tuesday  the  massacre  began  by  an  attack  upon  the  market 
and  then  upon  the  houses.  The  roar  of  the  firing  and  the 
shrieks  of  the  women  were  awful,  but  our  friends  defended  us. 
That  night  there  was  no  sleep  for  us,  for  the  attacks  on  the 
houses  and  the  firing  kept  up  all  night.  The  next  morning 
our  Turkish  friends  said  to  us:  ‘We  have  fulfilled  our 
promise,  but  the  massacre  is  still  going  on,  and  we  can  defend 
you  no  longer  unless  you  become  Moslems.  Otherwise  you 
will  all  be  killed.’  The  firing  was  going  on  all  the  time  and 
houses  were  being  set  on  fire,  and  the  smoke  made  it  seem  as 
if  the  end  of  the  world  had  come.  I  fell  on  my  knees  before 
my  father,  who  was  the  only  man  in  our  household  of  nine 
people,  and  begged  him  not  to  swerve  from  his  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.  He  rebuked  me  for  thinking  such  a  thing  of  him. 
We  all  prayed  for  help  and  waited  to  see  what  would  come. 
That  day  my  father  was  killed,  but  they  did  not  kill  us  because 
we  were  only  women.  But  they  made  us  go  for  three  days 
into  a  house  with  a  great  many  other  women,  while  they 
robbed  our  house  of  everything.  They  did  not  burn  the 
house  because  their  own  house  would  have  burned  also. 


49° 


ARMENIAN  PRIESTS  KILLED. 


After  they  had  taken  everything  from  our  house,  they  let  us 
go  back  into  it,  and  thought  themselves  very  kind  for  doing 
so.  Crowds  of  our  friends  who  were  left  without  shelter 
came  to  the  house,  and  we  have  about  50  people  in  every 
room,  all  without  bedding  and  all  without  food.  What  is  to 
become  of  us  ?  ” 

“At  Tadem,  in  the  same  province,  out  of  1,800  Armenians 
270  were  killed.  The  survivors  escaped  only  by  accepting 
Mohammedanism.  Two  Armenian  priests,  were  killed,  one 
after  shameful  mutilation.  Of  the  outrages  on  women  there 
is  no  use  in  trying  to  keep  account.  They  are  universal  and 
hardly  attract  attention.  At  Tadem,  a  Turkish  notable  was 
selling  Christian  women  to  Turks  and  Kurds  in  exchange  for 
horses  and  donkeys,  as  long  as  a  month  after  the  massacre. 
He  also  kept  a  certain  number  of  Christian  women  whom  he 
presented  for  the  night  to  any  police  or  soldiers  who  passed 
throuo-h  the  village  on  their  rounds.  The  same  atrocious 
practice  is  reported  from  other  places  also. 

“In  the  provinces  of  Harput  and  Diarbekir  alone,  over  8,000 
Armenian  houses  have  been  burned,  and  more  than  15,000 
Christians  are  known  to  have  been  killed,  while  every  day  adds 
to  the  list.  Fifty  or  more  Armenian  ecclesiastics  are  known  to 
have  been  killed  for  refusing  to  accept  Mohammedanism,  and 
the  list  of  martyrs  among  the  Protestant  pastors  has  risen  to 
twenty.  Some  of  these  are  among  the  best  and  most  influen¬ 
tial  men  in  the  Protestant  community.  In  connection  with 
this  subject  one  incident  may  be  mentioned.  At  Cesarea,  in 
the  province  of  Angora,  on  the  30th  of  November,  600 
Christians  were  murdered  by  the  Turks  of  the  city.  In  one 
of  the  Protestant  houses  of  the  city  a  father  and  his  little 
daughter,  twelve  years  of  age,  were  alone,  the  mother  having 


A  LITTLE  GIRL  BUTCHERED. 


491 


gone  to  visit  a  married  daughter  before  the  massacre  began. 
A  fierce-looking  Turk  suddenly  burst  into  the  room  where 
the  little  girl  was  sitting.  He  spoke  to  the  child  in  as  kind 
a  voice  as  he  could  command.  “My  child,”  said  he,  “your 
father  is  dead  because  he  would  not  accept  the  religion  of 
Islam.  Now  I  shall  have  to  make  you  a  Mohammedan,  and 
if  you  will  agree  to  it  I  will  take  you  to  my  house  and  you 
will  have  everything  that  you  want,  just  as  if  you  were  my 
daughter.  Will  you  become  a  Mohammedan  ?  ”  The  little 
girl  replied:  “I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  my  Saviour. 
I  love  him.  I  cannot  do  as  you  wish,  even  if  you  kill  me.” 
Then  the  ruffian  fell  upon  the  poor  child  with  his  sword  and 
slashed  and  stabbed  her  in  twelve  different  places.  What 
followed  no  one  knows.  The  house  was  pillaged  and  burned 
and  the  body  of  the  father  was  burned  in  it.  But  that  even¬ 
ing  a  cart  was  brought  by  a  Turkish  neighbor  to  the  house 
in  another  part  of  the  city  where  the  mother  of  the  little  girl 
was  staying.  The  Turk  said  to  her,  “I  have  brought  you 
the  body  of  your  little  girl.  You  are  my  friend  and  I  could 

not  leave  it.  I  am  very  sorry  for  what  has  happened.”  The 

mother  took  the  body  of  the  little  girl  into  the  house, 
and  found  that  there  was  still  life  in  it.  A  surgeon  was 
summoned.  He  restored  the  child  to  her  senses,  and  she  is 
now  in  a  fair  way  to  recovery. 

“Another  indirect  method  of  destroying  the  Christian  com¬ 
munities  in  these  provinces  must  be  referred  to.  As  if  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  self-respect  and  the  grounds  of 
religious  hope,  a  systematic  course  of  debauching  Christian 
women  has  been  kept  up  in  some  of  these  provinces.  At 

Tamzara,  in  the  district  of  Sharka  Kara  Hissar,  in  the 

province  of  Sivasall,  the  men  were  killed  in  the  massacres 


492 


VIOLATING  ARMENIAN  WOMEN. 


early  in  November.  From  a  well-to-do  Armenian  population 
of  1,500,  all  that  remain  are  about  300  starving  and  half-naked 
women  and  children.  Trustworthy  information  from  this 
place,  dated  the  twenty-fourth  of  January,  says  that  the  most 
horrible  feature  of  the  situation  of  these  women  is,  that  passing 
Mohammedan  soldiery  or  civilian  travelers  attack  them  and 
outrage  them  in  their  houses  without  hesitation  and  without 
restraint.  This  license  has  been  observed  toward  these 

wretched  women  during  all  of  the  three  months  since  the 
massacres. 

‘  Information  from  Mezreh,  the  seat  of  government  in  the 
Province  of  Harput,  dated  the  twenty-seventh  of  January, 
says  that  the  same  license  to  abuse  Christian  women  exists  in 
that  province  also.  Within  sight  and  hearing  of  the  Gover¬ 
nor-General’s  palace,  Mohammedan  young  men  have  broken 
into  Christian  houses  by  night  and  worked  their  infernal  pleas¬ 
ure  upon  the  women  of  the  houses.  It  is  not  once  or  twice 
that  this  thing  has  happened,  but  it  is  week  after  week,  until 
the  women  are  reduced  to  the  condition  of  public  prostitutes 
without  will  of  their  own.” 

In  view  of  such  facts,  it  is  scarcely  surprising  that  a  mis¬ 
sionary  wrote  as  follows: 

“  The  world  will  have  heard  of  the  physical  side  of  the  dis¬ 
asters  which  have  come  upon  this  country.  The  moral  aspect 
is  still  more  deplorable.  When  the  Saracens  conquered  these 
lands,  they  offered  the  people  the  alternatives  of  the  Koran, 
tribute  or  the  sword.  These  Moslems  first  strip  the  people 
of  everything,  commit  other  nameless  outrages,  and  then  the 
only  alternative  presented  is  Islam  or  death ;  and  this  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  Hundreds  of  people  have  accepted 
martyrdom  rather  than  deny  their  faith.  Many  more,  some 


CHURCHES  BECOME  MOSQUES. 


493 


from  fear  of  death,  and  others  to  save  their  families  from 
a  fate  worse  than  death,  have  formally  accepted  Mohamme¬ 
danism.  In  most  of  the  villages  and  towns  in  this  region,  the 
majority  of  the  survivors  who  were  not  able  to  flee,  are  now 
professed  Moslems.  Throughout  all  this  wide  Harput  mis¬ 
sion  field,  there  is  probably  scarcely  a  Christian  service  held 
among  Gregorians  or  Protestants  outside  of  this  quarter  of 
the  city.  Although  the  church  here  was  burned,  our  Sunday 
services  have  been  maintained  in  the  college.  Churches  have 
become  mosques,  and  the  trembling  Christians  are  taught  to 
pray  after  the  Mohammedan  form.  Schools,  of  course,  are 
disbanded,  although  we  are  gathering  together  the  boys  of 
our  male  department  at  the  college ;  and  we  hope  to  do  the 
same  for  girls  if  we  can  secure  rooms  outside,  as  the  girls’ 
college  is  a  complete  ruin. 

“Every  day,  from  morning  till  night,  our  hearts  are  torn  by 
the  recital  of  the  most  horrible  tales  of  bloodshed  and 
outrage  and  heartless  persecution.  Some  of  our  best  and 
worthiest  men  tell  of  the  agony  which  they  suffer  from  the 
position  which  they  hold  as  Mohammedans  in  form,  while  their 
whole  being  revolts  against  it.  They  say:  ‘We  would  wel¬ 
come  martyrdom  with  cruel  torture,  if  only  our  wives  and 
children  could  be  saved  from  the  clutches  of  these  men  by 
death  or  by  some  sort  of  freedom.  We  have  gladly  sur¬ 
rendered  our  homes  to  the  flames  and  our  property  to  plun¬ 
der ;  but  we  cannot  sacrifice  our  families.’  Here  is  a  very 
serious  problem.  Of  course  we  cannot  justify  this  position ;  and 
yet,  when  we  see  the  fate  of  many  of  these  helpless  families, 
bereft  of  their  protectors,  it  is  not  in  our  hearts  to  reproach 
those  who  have  saved  their  lives  by  this  hypocrisy.  Either 
alternative  is  dreadful ;  and  to  stand  in  the  presence  of  such 


494 


TRAVELING  UNSAFE. 


calamities  so  utterly  helpless,  except  to  cry  to  God  in  the 
agony  of  our  hearts,  is  a  trial  which  we  never  expected  to  ex- 
perience. 

“  Of  course,  we  cannot  tell  what  the  outcome  will  be.  We 
believe  that  God  has  a  people  here,  and  that  in  some  way,  out 
of  all  this  ruin,  he  will  rebuild  his  Church  ;  but  at  present  the 
outlook  is  dark  in  the  extreme.  Many  of  the  churches, 
parsonages  and  schools  have  been  destroyed,  how  many  we 
do  not  know,  for  the  country  is  in  such  a  state  that  traveling 
is  very  unsafe  and  reports  come  in  slowly.  We  know 
that  seven  of  our  pastors  and  six  preachers  have  been  killed, 
and  we  may  hear  of  still  others.  Few  of  the  preachers 
remain  at  their  posts.  Not  only  would  they  be  put  under  a 
pressure  to  accept  Islam,  but  they  are  hated  because  they  are 
understood  to  be  promoters  of  freedom  of  thought.  Then, 
too,  where  their  congregations  are  recognized  as  Mo¬ 
hammedans,  their  presence  among  them  would  not  be 
tolerated.” 

As  these  facts  have  been  spread  abroad,  a  storm  of  indigna¬ 
tion  has  arisen  over  the  entire  Christian  world,  such  that  even 
the  Turks  dared  not  disregard  it,  and  accordingly,  “  early  in 
January  the  local  officials  of  the  provinces  of  Harput  and  Diar- 
bekir  sent  orders  to  the  recently  ‘  converted  ’  villages,  on  no 
account  to  admit,  in  case  they  are  asked,  that  they  were  forced 
to  become  Mohammedans.  The  people  were  informed  that 
death  would  be  the  penalty  for  any  complaint  respecting  the 
compulsion  used  to  force  them  to  accept  Mohammedanism. 
There  are  15,000  of  these  forced  converts  in  the  province  of 
Harput  alone,  and  about  40,000  of  them  in  the  whole  region 
devastated  by  the  massacres.  If  the  European  Powers  would 
send  a  commission  through  the  provinces  to  learn  the  real 


CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP  PROHIBITED. 


495 

facts,  they  could  easily  verify  these  statements,  and  if  they 
could  let  the  people  know  that  they  would  not  be  betrayed  to 
the  Turks,  they  would  find  that  these  people  are  pleading  for 
relief  from  the  servitude  to  a  hated  religion  into  which  they 
have  been  forced.  If  the  Powers  could  demand  of  the  Otto¬ 
man  Government  the  issue  of  a  proclamation  condemning 
these  military  conversions,  and  giving  the  victims  of  them 
liberty  to  return  to  their  own  faith  without  incurring  the 
death  penalty  which  has  now  been  pronounced  against  them, 
the  mass  of  the  people  would  gladly  return  to  the  Armenian 
Church. 

“  Information  from  several  points  in  the  provinces  of  Sivas, 
Harput,  Diarbekir,  Bitlis  and  Van,  shows  that  the  process  of 
forcing  Christians  to  become  Mohammedans  is  still  actively 
used.  Week  by  week  the  Christian  population  is  warned 
that  all  who  have  not  accepted  Mohammedanism  are  to  be 
massacred.  Every  Friday  is  a  day  of  terror  for  the  Christians 
in  all  of  these  provinces.  Constant  pressure  is  exerted  to  in¬ 
duce  people  in  despair  to  deny  their  faith.  In  the  country 
districts  neither  priest  nor  pastor  dare  venture  out  of  their 
hiding,  for  they  would  be  instantly  killed  as  men  who  would 
interfere  with  the  conversion  of  the  people.  In  the  villages, 
Christian  worship  is  generally  prohibited  throughout  the  six 
provinces  of  the  reform  scheme.  In  twenty-eight  villages  in 
the  district  of  Harput,  there  had  been,  at  last  accounts  (January 
30,  1896),  no  Christian  worship  since  the  first  of  November. 
This  abolition  of  Christian  worship  among  a  Christian  people 
is  simply  a  part  of  the  purpose  to  abolish  Christianity.” 

We  close  this  chapter  with  a  few  illustrations  drawn  from 
places  well  known,  and  in  regard  to  which  there  can  be  no 

possible  question : 

29 


FIREBRAND,  KEROSENE  AND  BULLETS. 


496 

“Saturday  evening,  November  2d,  the  inhabitants  of  Kut- 
turbul,  just  across  the  Tigris,  east  of  Diarbekir,  took  refuge 
from  the  Kurds  in  the  large  stone  church  of  the  Jacobite 
Syrians,  to  which  they  had  already  moved  their  household 
goods.  Fugitives  from  three  other  villages,  which  had  been 
attacked  the  day  before,  had  also  taken  refuge  here,  so  the 
church  was  packed  with  goods  and  people.  That  night  the 
Kurds,  with  some  men  from  Diarbekir,  surrounded  the  church 
and  began  to  shoot  into  the  high,  narrow  windows  by  which  it 
is  lighted.  Aboshe  Jacob,  pastor  of  the  Protestant  church  of 
the  village,  was  the  first  one  struck,  but  his  wound  was  not 
serious,  and  he  kept  on  his  feet,  giving  such  comfort  as  he 
could  to  his  distressed  companions.  Seeing  little  effect  from 
their  efforts  to  dislodge  the  people  and  get  at  the  booty,  about 
midnight  the  Kurds  tore  up  part  of  the  vaulted  roof,  and  first 
throwing  in  firebrands  through  the  opening,  then  poured 
kerosene  down  upon  the  blaze,  at  the  same  time  firing  their 
guns  into  the  defenseless  crowd  of  men,  women  and  children. 
A  frantic  rush  was  made  for  the  door ;  but  it  was  locked,  and 
could  be  opened  only  with  the  key  from  the  outside.  As  is 
the  case  with  most  of  the  old  churches,  in  order  to  prevent 
their  desecration  by  being  used  as  stables  for  horses,  the  door 
was  very  small,  only  some  four  and  a  half  feet  high  by  two 
and  a  half  feet  wide.  After  much  effort  it  was  finally  broken 
open,  and  the  smoke-stifled,  flame-scorched,  terror-stricken 
crowd  poured  out  from  the  narrow  egress,  only  to  meet  a 
deadly  shower  of  bullets  from  the  surrounding  Kurds. 

“Among  the  crowd  was  Pastor  Jurjis  Khudhershaw  Ante- 
shalian,  a  graduate  from  our  Theological  Seminary  in  1868; 
for  some  years  pastor  of  the  church  in  Mosul,  later  engaged 
in  evangelical  work  in  Egypt,  whence  he  had  but  recently 


ATTACK  ON  KARABASH. 


497 

come  to  visit  relatives.  As  he  came  out  he  was  at  once  recog¬ 
nized  by  his  beard  and  intelligent  face  as  one  of  the  clergy, 
and  was  seized,  thrown  down  and  clubbed.  One  of  the  books 
which  had  been  scattered  about  by  the  marauders  was  thrust 
into  his  mouth,  and  he  was  mockingly  called  upon  to  read  the 
church  service.  Firebrands  were  then  thrown  upon  him,  and 
as,  restoi  ed  to  partial  consciousness  by  the  pain,  he  began  to 

crawl  away,  he  was  clubbed  again,  drawn  back  and  burned  to 
ashes. 

“  The  next  to  suffer  was  Pastor  Hanoosh  Melki,  of  Kara- 
bash,  three  hours  east  of  Kutturbul ;  a  classmate  of  Pastor 
Jurjis,  an  earnest  worker,  and  especially  efficient  as  an  evan¬ 
gelist.  He  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  the  Karabash 
church  at  the  time  of  its  organization,  but  had  resigned,  and 
was  expecting  a  call  to  the  church  in  Sert,  which  was  then  on 
the  way  to  him.  Kurds  attacked  the  village  Saturday  after¬ 
noon,  November  2d,  but  were  repulsed ;  and  that  night  most 
of  the  unarmed  villagers  took  refuge  in  the  large  buildings 
erected  around  the  outskirts  of  the  village  for  dovecots.  Hav¬ 
ing  received  large  reinforcements  during  the  night,  the  Kurds 
renewed  the  attack  at  daybreak  Sunday,  in  spite  of  a  cold, 
driving  rain  which  had  set  in,  and,  getting  possession  of  the 
village  toward  noon,  began  their  horrible  work  of  pillage, 
burning  and  slaughter.  As  soon  as  Pastor  Hanoosh,  in  the 
dovecot  where  his  family  and  many  others  had  taken  refuge, 
knew  that  the  village  had  been  taken,  he  tried  to  open  the 
small  door  opposite  one  at  which  the  Kurds  were  already  try- 
ing  to  force  an  entrance.  Before  he  could  get  it  open  they 
broke  in,  and  he  was  the  first  to  meet  them.  Iudorincr  from 
his  beard  that  he  was  the  priest  of  the  village,  they  supposed 
ho,  of  course,  would  have  a  large  sum  of  money  with  him, 


PROMINENT  PREACHERS  KILLED. 


498 

He  only  had  some  bread,  and  taking  a  loaf  from  his  bosom 
he  gave  it  to  one  of  them.  They  were  enraged  at  this,  yet 
would  have  spared  him  had  he  but  raised  one  finger  in  token 
of  acceptance  of  Islam.  Refusing  to  do  this,  he  was  struck 
down  by  a  sword  and  killed  before  the  eyes  of  his  wife  and 
children.  His  body  was  then  stripped  and  his  family  plun¬ 
dered. 

“The  third  to  fall  was  Hanna  Sehda,  son  of  one  of  the  first 
pastors,  a  member  of  our  last  theological  class,  and  a  preacher 
of  much  promise.  After  graduating  in  1890,  he  ministered 
for  a  time  to  the  Sert  Church,  of  which  his  father  had  formeily 
been  for  a  long  time  pastor.  He  refused  its  urgent  and  oft- 
repeated  call  to  become  its  pastor,  and  had  been  for  only  a 
few  months  with  the  Karabash  church,  which  liked  him  much 
and  had  just  built  a  parsonage  for  him.  That  Sabbath  morn¬ 
ing  he  led  his  wife,  a  graduate  of  our  Girls  High  School,  and 
their  three  little  children  out  of  the  dovecot,  where,  with  many 
others,  they  had  taken  refuge  the  night  before,  and  fled  to  a 
village  half  an  hour  away,  which  had  already  been  plundered, 
and  where  they  thought,  for  a  time  at  least,  they  might  be 
safe.  Benumbed  with  the  cold  and  rain,  they  were  glad  to 
find  in  one  of  the  vacant  houses  a  supply  of  fuel  cowdung 
mixed  with  straw,  and  made  up  into  large  cakes  and  soon 
had  a  comfortable  fire.  Here  they  were  joined  by  Pastor 
Hanoosh’s  widow  and  children  and  others.  Toward  sunset  a 
roving  band  of  Kurds  came  upon  them  as  they  were  grouped 
around  the  fire,  and  stripped  them  of  most  of  what  was  still 
left  them.  Later,  another  band  came,  and,  enraged  at  finding 
nothing  left  for  them  to  plunder,  turned  upon  the  men.  These, 
seeing  that  the  Kurds  meant  to  kill  them,  rushed  out,  and 
made  their  escape  in  the  darkness,  though  fired  upon.  Hanna 


DEATHS  FROM  EXPOSURE. 


499 


had  taken  his  two  little  boys  out  with  him,  but  finding  he 
could  not  get  away  with  them,  he  let  go  their  hands  and  made 
off.  Already  faint  with  hunger  and  stiff  with  cold,  he  could 
make  but  slow  progress.  So  he  was  soon  overtaken  by  the 
Kurds,  to  whom  he  refused  to  yield  by  accepting  Islam  to  save 
his  life.  The  last  seen  of  him  by  one  of  his  church-members 
as  he  looked  back  in  his  flight,  he  was  extending  his  arms  to 
ward  off  the  sword-blow  which  hewed  him  down,  after  which 
a  gun  was  discharged  into  his  body.  A  few  days  after,  one 
of  his  congregation,  compelled  by  Moslems  to  go  to  the  vil¬ 
lage  where  he  was  killed,  saw  that  his  body  had  been  burned. 
His  baby  girl  and  youngest  boy  died  that  night  from  exposure, 
while  the  elder  boy  and  his  fair-looking  mother  were  led  away 
into  captivity,  from  which,  however,  they  were  recovered  later 
and  are  now  at  her  father’s  house. 

“The  fourth  victim  was  Pastor  Aboshe,  of  Kutturbul,  already 
mentioned  as  the  first  one  wounded  in  the  church  Saturday 
night  before  the  roof  was  broken  in.  He  escaped  through 
the  broken  door,  and  though  thrust  with  daggers  as  he  passed 
out,  made  off  in  the  darkness  and  climbed  a  tree  in  which 
he  stayed  till  near  morning.  Then  he  got  down  stealthily, 
and  made  his  way  to  a  house  in  which  cut  straw  was  stored, 
where  he  stayed  hidden  until  Monday  noon,  when  he  felt 
sufficiently  revived  to  go  out  in  search  of  his  scattered  family. 
He  found  them  in  a  deserted  bath  not  far  from  their  own 
house,  his  wife  uninjured,  one  child  killed,  a  married  daughter 
lying  in  a  corner  fatally  wounded,  in  attempting  to  protect 
her  husband  who  was  killed,  the  eldest  son  severely  wounded, 
while  a  younger  daughter  had  been  carried  away  captive. 
They  passed  Monday  night  caring  tenderly  for  the  wounded 
daughter,  mourning  over  the  captivity  of  the  younger  one, 


5°° 


FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH. 


and  praying  for  deliverance  from  further  woes.  Tuesday  a 
roving  band  of  Kurds  went  through  the  village  to  see  if  any¬ 
thing  were  still  left  to  plunder,  and,  finally  coming  to  the  yard 
of  the  bath-house,  began  to  abuse  some  of  the  pastor’s  con¬ 
gregation  who  had  gathered  there,  as  it  was  a  more  protected 
place  than  most.  The  pastor,  overhearing  them,  went  out  to 
try  to  persuade  them  to  cease  from  further  barbarities  toward 
those  who  had  already  suffered  so  much.  Perceiving  that  he 
was  a  ‘  spiritual  head,’  as  the  clergy  are  called,  the  Kurds  at 
once  called  on  him  to  renounce  his  faith  and  embrace  Islam. 
He  fixed  a  steady  gaze  on  them,  but  said  nothing.  ‘Ha!’ 
said  one,  ‘see  how  the  kafir  (infidel)  still  holds  stoutly  to  his 
faith.’  Another  said  to  him:  ‘Just  raise  one  finger  (this  is 
accepted  by  them  as  a  confession  of  one  God :  Mohammed 
His  prophet),  and  you  will  not  be  harmed.’  Instantly  he 
calmly  replied:  ‘I  shall  never  raise  my  finger.’  Immediately 
a  Kurd  near  him  made  a  thrust  at  him  with  a  straight  dagger, 
while  another  a  little  farther  away  put  a  bullet  through  him, 
right  in  the  presence  of  several  of  his  flock.  His  firm  faith 
and  bold  confession  of  it  in  the  presence  of  death  was  the 
weightiest  sermon  they  had  ever  heard  from  his  lips.  He 
was  the  most  scholarly  and  refined  among  all  our  native 
helpers.  He  came  of  an  educated,  priestly  family,  and  his 
grandfather  was  the  author  of  a  grammatical  work  in  ancient 
Syriac.  Mr.  Andrus’  first  sermon  in  Kutturbul  years  ago 
from  the  text,  ‘Son,  go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard,’  was  the 
means  of  his  conversion  and  of  bringing  him  later  into  the 
ministry.  Soon  after  graduating  from  the  theological  semi¬ 
nary  he  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  his  native  village, 
Kutturbul,  and  during  his  pastorate  had  erected  a  beautiful 
little  chapel,  the  finest  in  our  field  ;  now,  alas!  used  as  a  sheep- 


GOD  STILL  REIGNS. 


501 

fold,  while  the  adjoining  school  building  has  been  burned. 
Out  of  his  congregation  of  1 6 1  souls,  98  went  with  him  into 
eternity,  and  of  the  63  remaining,  18  of  them  are  wounded; 
most  are  scattered  abroad — some  ot  them  we  know  not  where. 
Half  of  our  pastors  have  fallen,  ‘  not  accepting  deliverance ;  ’ 
half  our  churches  are  scattered ;  one-third  of  our  stations  are 
destroyed.  But  God  still  reigns  (Ps.  2).  He  is  faithful  and 
true,  and  His  promises  sure.  Pray  with  us  that  the  desolate 
places  may  speedily  be  rebuilt;  that  His  Church,  purified  and 
quickened  by  this  tempest  of  persecution,  may  apply  itself 
with  fresh  faith  and  zeal  to  His  work;  and  that  He  will  shortly 
accomplish  His  purpose  of  grace  for  this  land.” 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Relief  Work. 

The  General  Situation — Absolute  Destitution — Appeals  to  America  and  England — Work  in 
the  Sassun  Region — Van  and  Dr.  Kimball — Appeals  following  the  Greater  Massacres — 
Clara  Barton  and  the  Red  Cross — Opposition  of  the  Turks — Letter  from  Van — After  the 
Massacre  in  Harput — Suffering  in  the  Villages — Appeal  for  Help. 

NO  one  can  fully  understand  what  these  massacres  have 
meant  to  the  Armenian  people  who  does  not  under¬ 
stand  their  manner  of  life  ;  and  no  one  can  understand  that 
manner  of  life  by  mere  description.  It  must  be  seen  and 
experienced.  A  few  general  remarks,  however,  will  assist. 
In  the  first  place  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  is  abso¬ 
lutely  no  system  anywhere  in  Turkey  of  banking  by  which  sav¬ 
ings  can  be  put  aside.  Whatever  of  money  is  accumulated 
is  immediately  invested  in  land  or  business,  is  loaned  out 
or  is  hoarded.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  comparatively 
little  of  either  done  by  the  great  mass  of  the  peasantry.  The 
tax-gatherers  understand  perfectly  how  much  each  man’s 
property  is  worth,  how  much  the  harvest  will  bring,  how 
much  clothing  and  house  furniture  he  has,  and  for  centuries 
have  made  it  their  particular  business  to  see  that  it  will  not 
so  develop  as  to  give  him  exceptional  power.  The  fact  that 
the  general  communities  have  been  as  prosperous  as  they 
have  been  is,  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances,  a  marvelous 
(502) 


GOODS  CONFISCATED. 


S°3 


tribute  to  their  industry  and  thrift.  For  the  most  part,  how¬ 
ever,  all  have  lived  a  hand  to  mouth  existence,  managing 
through  the  summer  and  autumn  to  secure  enough  provision 
to  keep  body  and  soul  together  through  the  winter,  and  start¬ 
ing  in  on  the  spring  with  almost  no  supplies.  Their  clothing 
is  of  the  very  simplest ;  heavy,  coarse  cloth  and  cloaks  of 
sheep's  wool.  The  house-furniture  is  almost  nothing;  a  few 
quilts,  an  occasional  mattress,  a  small  table  or  two,  a  few  pots 
and  kettles,  sum  up  the  entire  property  of  the  great  mass  of 
the  peasantry  in  the  villages.  In  the  towns  and  cities  pro¬ 
portionately  it  is  scarcely  better.  True,  the  Armenians  have 
had  the  trade  of  the  entire  empire  practically  in  their  hands, 
yet  it  was  rare  that  they  could  secure  more  than  a  bare  liv¬ 
ing.  The  collection  of  debts  was  almost  impossible, 
especially  from  Moslems.  They  were  subject  to  all  manner 
of  injustice.  On  the  slightest  pretext  the  municipal  authori¬ 
ties  would  enter  in  and  confiscate  anything  they  chose.  In 
the  towns  there  was  possible  a  certain  amount  of  investment 
in  the  way  of  loans,  but  most  usurious  rates  of  interest  were 
charged,  all  the  way  from  twelve  per  cent,  per  annum  to  five 
per  cent,  per  month.  The  risk,  however,  was  proportionate 
and  many  a  man  was  happy  if  he  secured  enough  of  his 
principal,  and  enough  of  his  interest  together  to  give  him  a 
very  slight  income.  The  house-furnishing  was  more  elab¬ 
orate  than  in  the  villages,  but  by  no  means  such  as  would 
be  considered  even  comfortable  in  this  country.  A  few 
merchants  lived  well,  but  the  great  mass  of  artisans  and 
tradesmen  were  poor  with  a  poverty  that  is  scarcely  known 
even  in  the  slums  of  our  great  cities.  Under  such  circum¬ 
stances,  to  destroy  the  homes  and  furniture,  the  shops  and 
their  merchandise,  was  in  itself  a  most  terrible  loss.  It  left 


5°4 


SITUATION  APPALLING. 


the  people  without  capital  or  trade,  without  the  means  of 
everyday  life.  When  to  this  was  added  the  wholesale  mas¬ 
sacre  of  men — the  bread-winners,  the  employers,  the  laborers 
— the  situation  was  something  terrible.  Families  without  num¬ 
ber  were  left  absolutely  destitute,  with  no  food  to  eat,  with 
scarcely  any  clothing,  and  in  some  cases  with  no  clothing, 
with  no  homes  to  lives  in,  and  with  absolutely  no  hope  of  any 
support  except  as  it  should  come  from  sympathizing  friends. 
Add  to  this  the  general  demoralization  referred  to  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  chapter ;  the  utter  despair  as  the  result  of  the  bitter 
cruelties  of  the  Turks  and  Kurds ;  the  terrible  outraging  of 
women,  destroying  the  very  essence  of  true  womanhood, 
leaving  perfectly  blank  horror  to  take  the  place  of  home  life — 
and  the  situation  is  something  which  in  this  country  cannot 
by  the  most  vivid  picture  be  absolutely  understood. 

It  has  always  been  to  the  honor  of  America  and  England 
that  they  have  been  in  the  forefront  to  relieve  destitution,  and 
no  sooner  did  the  cry  of  these  sorrowing  and  destitute  ones 
come  up  from  every  portion  of  the  Turkish  Empire  than  it 
met  with  a  hearty  response  in  both  countries.  After  the 
Sassun  massacre  and  through  the  summer  of  1895  repeated 
efforts  were  made  to  bring  relief  to  that  comparatively  small 
section.  Many  were  provided  with  food,  and  a  commission 
of  relief  was  sent  by  the  English  to  assist  in  the  distribution 
and  help  on  the  general  work.  A  Turkish  commission  was 
also  appointed,  with  what  result  will  be  seen  below.  It 
would  appear  as  if  this  was  something  that  would  appeal  to 
all ;  and  yet  the  distributers,  some  of  them  American  mis¬ 
sionaries,  some  of  them  English  consular  officials,  found 
themselves  constantly  hampered  by  the  opposition  of  the 
Turkish  officials  and,  most  of  all,  the  Turkish  Relief  Commis- 


HYPOCRITICAL  GOVERNORS. 


505 


sion.  Objection  was  made  to  the  distribution  of  relief,  and 
when  relief  was. given,  the  tax-gatherer  came  around  to  see 
that  the  proceeds  of  relief  came  back,  first  in  their  own 
pockets  and  then  in  driblets  into  the  imperial  treasury.  A 
few  paragraphs  from  letters  written  in  that  summer  by  an 
American  will  give  an  idea  of  the  situation : 

“  Dr.  R.  joined  me  at  Bitlis  and  we  talked  with  the 
Governor,  who,  of  course,  was  very  smooth,  though  I  felt  he 
had  other  things  in  mind.  The  promised  letter  was  not  quite 
as  I  expected,  though  the  Mush  Mutessarif  seemed  to  meet 
us  and  Mr.  S.  (an  Englishman),  pretty  cordially,  and 
supplied  us  with  a  guard.  Promised  tents  for  the  sick  were 
not  forthcoming,  while  people  from  Dalvorsig  were  in  trepida¬ 
tion  from  fear  of  the  Kurds  and  were  being  pressed  to  sign 
petitions  of  thanks  to  the  Sultan,  or,  as  a  condition  of  relief 
at  the  hands  of  the  local  Mutessarif,  who  ended  his  words 
by  saying  that  if  they  did  not  sign  such  a  paper,  he  would 
set  the  ruffians  upon  them  to  extermination.  So,  with  Mr. 
S.,  I  went  down  to  see  the  Mush  Governor,  having  in 
mind  also  to  hasten  on  the  supplies  for  the  sick. 

“  But,  as  might  be  expected,  jealousy  of  the  government, 
local  and  general — at  Mush  and  Constantinople — leads  to 
throwing  about  us  all  possible  hindrances.  The  guard  sup¬ 
plied,  two  men,  speak  Armenian.  One  of  them  is  chief 
secretary  of  the  Mush  police,  and  boasts  that  he  is  sent  with 
us  to  spy  out  and  report  all  our  doings.  Of  course,  we  are 
doing  nothing  we  are  ashamed  to  have  him  know,  only  we 
had  put  in  our  protest  against  two  men  nominally  being  sup¬ 
plied  when  but  one,  came  and  he  with  no  gun  and  deputized 
from  his  government  to  serve  as  a  spy  for  its  purpose,  while 
our  men  have  to  feed  and  serve  him. 


506  TURKISH  RELIEF  (?)  COMMISSION. 

“We  reached  here  the  12th  inst.,  and  soon  put  ourselves 
in  communication  with  the  Turkish  Relief  Commission,  com¬ 
posed  of  five  members,  two  of  them  Christians — calling  on 
them  the  day  we  came.  They  returned  our  call  the  next 
morning  and  seemed  provoked  to  good  works,  as  we  hoped, 
claiming  to  be  on  the  way  to  hunt  out  lumber  for  the  build¬ 
ings,  in  forests  controlled  by  Kurds.  The  next  day  they  as¬ 
signed  all  of  44  ‘  godes  ’  of  millet  to  this  village  of  more 
than  70  houses,  making  a  gode  to  about  28  persons.  When 
I  was  at  Mush  on  the  23d  ult.,  though  I  did  not  succeed  in 
getting  into  the  province,  I  pushed  on  a  scheme  of  relief 
through  other  hands  and  inaugurated  the  sowing  of  some  65 
kilehs  (the  kileh  is  20  to  25  bushels)  of  millet,  the  near  vil¬ 
lages  loaning  two  hundred  oxen  to  help  on  the  enterprise. 
The  time  set  for  the  oxen  was  ten  days,  but  the  owners  have 
been  patient  now  for  30  days.  The  day  after  our  arrival  we 
got  a  few  men  at  work  in  a  small  way  on  the  old  desolate 
walls,  though  there  is  but  one  person  left  alive  in  this  village, 
and  in  Sennik,  near  by,  not  one.  The  commission  has  been 
sitting  here  these  three  months  and,  so  far  as  appears,  has 
done  nothing,  save  to  give  out  less  than  ^400  °f  the  reported 
£2,000  ($8,800)  in  its  hands  and  distribute  185  godes  of  mil¬ 
let;  not  a  sound  of  hammer  has  been  heard  towards  rebuild¬ 
ing  the  devastated  houses.  The  members  of  the  commis- 
sion  draw  40  piasters,  $1.60,  a  day  (in  a  country  where  25 
cents  a  day  is  high  wages).  We  have  come  to  give  free  ser¬ 
vice  for  humanity,  and  they  now  act  the  part  of  the  dog  in 
the  manger.  On  Monday  I  was  at  Mush  and  with  Mr.  S. 
called  on  the  Governor,  arranging  matters  satisfactorily  so 
far  as  words  go,  but,  alas  for  empty  words  and  lack  of 
good  deeds  in  this  justice-lacking  land  ! 


INTERFERENCE. 


5°7 


“They  make  their  declaration  that  nothing  is  to  go  direct 
through  our  hands,  though  we  may  oversee — they  are  the 
accredited  Commission  to  do  the  work,  and  why  should  we 
take  the  trouble  ?  To  this  we  replied  that  we  had  come  for 
work,  not  ease,  and  we  alone  must  be  responsible  for  the 
funds  in  our  hands,  just  as  they  are  for  the  funds  in  their 
hands,  though  we  will  cheerfully  consult  with  them  as  friends 
and  are  willing  to  show  them  account  of  every  expenditure, 
and  they  may  do  the  same  toward  us.  But  they  were  implac¬ 
able,  boasting  of  written  orders  as  to  how  work  for  all  must 
go  on  through  their  hands.  At  first  they  suggested,  and  we 
accepted  the  apportionment  of  their  choice,  that  they  get  up 
the  lumber  while  we  work  at  building,  as  well  as  feeding 
the  multitude.  This  time  Dr.  R.  takes  his  turn  at  the 
wheel,  and  has  gone  down  to  see  the  Mutessarif  in  company 
with  the  Consul  (English),  most  likely  to  see  what  the  fates 
are  to  evolve.  There  is  hope  the  new  Consul  may  arrive  to¬ 
day,  and  Mr.  S.  had  news  by  telegraph  he  could  leave. 
This  seems  to  indicate  a  bit  of  progress  in  the  reform  line, 
though  the  flying  in  the  face  of  our  efforts  for  humanity  by  the 
local  government,  backed,  of  course,  from  Constantinople, 
looks  in  the  opposite  direction.” 

More  encouraging  was  the  report  given  by  the  Van  Arme¬ 
nian  Industrial  Relief  Bureau  of  its  work  during  that  same  sum¬ 
mer,  under  circumstances  where  the  Turkish  Government  were 
unable  to  hinder  as  much  as  in  the  more  isolated  villages  of 
the  Sassun  region.  We  give  a  few  extracts,  not  merely  to 
show  what  the  work  was  and  how  it  was  done,  but  to  give  an 
idea  of  the  need : 

“  This  province  would  be — if  common  safety  prevailed — a 
great  wool-producing  country ;  while  abundant  cotton  is 


5°8 


PEOPLE  GIVEN  WORK. 


brought  from  our  near  neighbor,  Persia.  Tfiis  suggested  a 
simple  solution  of  the  work  problem.  In  response  to  appeals 
made  in  anticipation  of  certain  future  demands,  some  small 
sums  of  money  had,  as  early  as  June,  come  to  us  for  our  dis¬ 
tressed  people.  And  on  the  strength  of  this  money,  and  the 
increasingly  urgent  demands  for  help,  a  tentative  and  very 
simple  beginning  was  made.  A  bag  of  wool  was  bought, 
weighed  out  into  pound  portions,  and  whenever  a  woman 
came  begging  for  help  or  work,  her  case  was  investigated, 
her  name  registered,  and  she  was  given  wool  to  card  and  spin. 
On  return  of  the  thread,  it  was  weighed  and  examined  as  to 
quality :  the  woman  was  paid  at  a  rate  that  it  was  estimated 
would  supply  her  with  bread,  and  she  was  given  another  lot 
of  wool.  The  giving  of  two  or  three  lots  in  this  way  was 
enough  to  bring  down  on  us  a  crowd,  and  speedily  we  found 
a  large  business  flooding  in  upon  us — one  demanding  good 
organization  and  a  corps  of  distributers.  Cotton  was  added 
to  our  supplies,  and  all  the  processes  and  tricks  of  the  two 
trades  were  quickly  investigated,  and  every  attempt  was  made 
to  put  the  enterprise  on  a  sound  business  basis.  Infinite 
watchfulness  was  necessary  in  guarding  against  impostors, 
and  in  preventing  petty  thieving  and  unfaithfulness  on  the 
part  of  those  who  took  work.  The  medical  work  had  given 
us  acquaintance  with  the  people,  and  from  our  ex-patients  we 
were  able  to  select  at  once  those  whom  our  hearts  had  ached 
to  help  to  gain  a  living — those  whom  sickness  had  forced  to 
sell  everything — and  a  good  corps  of  helpers  was  soon  organ¬ 
ized.  Men  to  keep  the  door — and  it  often  took  three  men  to 
do  this  against  the  clamoring  crowd  ;  men  to  receive  and  weigh 
the  wool,  cotton,  and  thread  ;  men  for  the  various  demands 
of  the  Central  Bureau.  For  the  first  two  months  the  work 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  PRODUCTS. 


509 


was  accommodated  in  our  house,  in  the  rooms  used  as  a  dis¬ 
pensary,  and  we  were  in  a  state  of  siege  from  morning  to 
night.  The  long  lower  hall  was  devoted  to  a  row  of  cotton- 
carders,  the  twang  of  whose  primitive  cards,  and  the  dust  of 
whose  work,  filled  the  house  from  early  morning  till  dark, 
while  a  crowd  of  wretched  men  and  women  were  never  absent. 

“  The  accumulation  of  thread  brought  the  necessity  for 
weavers  and  all  the  processes  of  weaving  had  to  be  studied 
with  their  peculiar  tricks  and  merits.  The  demand  was  met 
at  once  by  weavers  who  were  out  of  work  and  in  dire  poverty. 
The  thread  was  given  them  by  weight,  and  the  woven  goods 
received  by  weight ;  and  they,  in  turn,  were  paid  with  due  regard 
to  the  needs  of  their  families.  Then  to  the  children  and 
some  who  were  too  weak  and  sick  to  do  the  heavier  work, 
yarn  was  given  to  be  knitted  into  socks. 

“  Shortly,  we  found  ourselves  in  possession  of  a  good  stock 
of  cotton  cloth,  woolen  goods  for  the  loose  trousers  worn  here, 
and  huge  piles  of  coarse  socks.  And  the  question  what  to  do 
with  them  came  to  the  front.  The  suggestion  was  made  that 
this  work  might  help  and  be  helped  by  the  Sassun  relief  work, 
by  our  supplying  materials  for  distribution  there.  The  prop¬ 
osition  was  submitted  to  Messrs.  Raynolds  and  Cole  and 
gladly  accepted  by  them,  and  this  arrangement  has  been  the 
means  whereby  our  Bureau  could  double  its  efficiency,  thanks 
to  having  an  assured  market  for  all  its  produce,  without  affect¬ 
ing  the  said  industries  here,  which,  on  the  contrary,  it  should 
(help. 

“  Our  goods  are  done  up  in  bales  here,  loaded  on  donkeys 
or  ox-carts  and  carried  down  to  the  lake  harbor.  There  they 
are  received  by  the  miserable  little  sail-boats  that  ply  the  lake 
and  taken — with  prayers  for  insurance — to  the  opposite  side 


510  APPEALS  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  WORLD. 

of  Van  Lake,  a  distance  of  some  sixty  miles.  Thence  they 
are  transported  by  horses  or  carts  to  Mush,  the  headquar¬ 
ters  of  the  Sassun  Commission.  The  journey  takes  from 
ten  days  to  two  or  three  weeks,  according  to  the  weather  and 
other  exigencies  of  travel  in  this  land.  The  entire  distance 
is  only  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 

“  In  this  way  we  have  already  sent  some  2,000  pairs  of  socks, 
and  1,400  webs  of  cloth,  to  the  value  of  £  T.  216  ($950).  A 
good  market  can  be  had  here  in  Van  for  all  our  products,  and, 
indeed,  we  have  sold  enough  here  to  bring  our  total  sales  up 
to  £  T.  258  ($1,156).  But  selling  here  has  the  disadvantage 
of  bringing  down  the  price  of  goods  and  injuring  the  poor 
producers,  while,  on  the  contrary,  our  trade  with  Sassun  has 
had  the  incidental  advantage  of  advancing  the  price  and  thus 
helping  the  community  by  so  much.” 

The  total  number  of  workers  is  as  follows: 


Spinners  of  Cotton  and  Wool 
Weavers  of  Cotton  Goods  . . . 

Weavers  of  Woolen  Goods. . 

Weavers  of  Carpets . 

Carders  ....  . . 

Spindle  Rillers . 

Sizers . 

Weighers,  Door-tenders,  etc. 

Total . . 

With  the  greater  massacres  that  followed  the  disturbance 
in  Constantinople  and  Trebizond,  there  broke  upon  the  Chris¬ 
tian  world  a  revelation  of  horror  and  of  terror  that  was  even 
greater  than  any  previous.  From  every  side  came  the  most 
piteous  appeals  to  the  Christian  world.  Language  itself 
seemed  to  fail  in  telling  of  the  situation,  and  many  a  sturdy 


373 

49 

22 

5 

9 

9 

4 

5 

476 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  FUNDS. 


511 


man  and  high-hearted  woman  felt  absolutely  helpless  as  they 
looked  out  over  the  plains,  into  the  villages  and  along  the 
streets  of  the  most  prosperous  cities,  and  saw  starvation  and 
death  staring  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men,  women,  and 
children  in  the  face.  Some  conception  can  be  gathered  from 
the  paragraphs  in  the  preceding  chapters.  Those  need  not 
be  repeated  here.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  say  that  everywhere 
throughout  England  and  America  there  was  a  prompt  and 
cordial  response.  We  have  to  do  especially  with  the  work  in 
this  country.  Committees  were  formed  in  a  great  many  cities 
and  Armenian  relief  associations  of  one  kind  and  another 
were  organized.  Armenian  Sundays  were  observed  by  many 
churches  ;  collections  were  taken  in  churches,  Sunday-schools, 
colleges,  societies  and  mass-meetings ;  journals  opened  their 
columns  for  relief  subscriptions ;  individuals  collected  funds 
privately;  Armenians  throughout  the  country  contributed 
from  their  slender  resources ;  and  the  money  was  forwarded 
promptly  to  the  field. 

The  question  immediately  arose  as  to  how  this  money 
should  be  distributed.  The  first  thought  of  everyone  was  the 
American  missionaries.  They  were  known  to  be  disinter¬ 
ested,  to  be  wise,  to  be  impartial  and  thoroughly  in  sympathy 
with  the  need.  But  they  were  in  a  very  difficult  position. 
They  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  the  Turkish 
Government,  and  to  a  large  degree  by  the  Turks  themselves, 
many  of  whom  felt  that  their  influence  was  political  and  that 
their  work  was  directed  to  the  ultimate  subverting  of  the 
whole  Ottoman  Empire.  At  the  same  time  there  was  no  one 
else.  The  absolute  lack  of  banking  facilities  throughout  the 
empire  made  them  practically  the  only  persons  through  whom 

relief  could  come.  A  single  illustration  of  the  situation  is  fur- 

30 


512 


RED  CROSS  SOCIETY. 


nished  by  the  statement  that  the  Armenian  Patriarch  in  Con¬ 
stantinople  when  he  wished  to  send  money  to  his  own  people 
in  Eastern  Turkey  was  obliged  to  come  to  the  Bible  House 
and  secure  the  drafts  of  the  treasurer  of  the  American  Mis¬ 
sions.  Money  sent  by  mail  was  never  sure  of  reaching  its 
destination.  The  Turkish  postal  arrangements  were  all  at 
odds,  and  more  than  that,  the  reception  of  money  in  any 
interior  city  by  any  except  foreigners  was  merely  the  pretext 
for  the  appearance  of  Turkish  officials  who  sought  to  deprive 
the  people  of  what  little  they  had.  Moreover,  there  were 
many  sections  that  the  missionaries  themselves  could  not 
reach.  They  were  under  suspicion  in  their  homes  and 
traveling  was  almost  impossible.  For  a  time  there  seemed 
to  be  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  many  lest  the  money  that  was 
contributed  should  not  reach  the  people  who  needed  it.  The 
proposition  then  was  made  most  naturally  that  the  great  Red 
Cross  Society  should  furnish  its  aid.  Its  record,  not  merely 
in  war  but  in  famine,  was  most  noble.  In  Russia  and  in  this 
country  it  has  done  yeoman  service.  The  appeal  came  first 
from  the  field  and  from  those  who,  ready  and  willing  to  do  all 
they  could,  felt  that  the  burden  was  heavier  than  they  could 
bear.  The  appeal  met  with  a  cordial  response  and  Clara 
Barton,  notwithstanding  her  advanced  years,  rose  imme¬ 
diately  to  the  emergency  and  gathered  her  forces  to  join  with 
those  already  on  the  field  for  the  relief  of  the  thousands  of 
suffering  ones.  It  was  at  this  time  that  an  effort  was  made 
to  combine  the  different  relief  committees  in  this  country, 
and  the  organization  was  effected  of  a  National  Armenian 
Relief  Committee,  with  Justice  Brewer  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  as  its  president  and  Brown  Brothers, 
the  well-known  bankers  at  59  Wall  Street,  New  York 


GOVERNMENT  OBJECTIONS. 


513 


City,  as  treasurers.  Other  organizations  were  invited,  not  to 
sink  their  own  individuality  in  this  general  committee,  but 
simply  to  co-operate  with  it.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if 
everything  was  going  favorably  and  Miss  Barton  was  on  the 
point  of  starting.  Then  came  the  well-known  objection  of 
the  Turkish  Government.  Word  was  sent  that  the  Sultan 
absolutely  refused  to  allow  the  Red  Cross  to  do  the  work. 
In  the  first  place  he  denied  that  there  was  any  work  needed  ; 
affirmed  that  the  stories  of  suffering  were  false,  gotten  up 
purely  for  political  effect ;  and  that  whatever  work  was 
needed  was  already  being  done  through  Turkish  officials  and 
could  be  carried  out  by  the  corresponding  organization  in  his 
own  empire  called  the  Red  Crescent.  Miss  Barton,  however, 
and  those  in  charge  of  the  committees,  were  not  discouraged. 
Appeals  were  sent  through  Congress  and  the  President  and 
in  an  unofficial  way  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  by  Minister 
Terrell  in  Constantinople.  The  result  was  that  at  last  ob¬ 
jections  were  overborne  and  Clara  Barton  and  her  associates 
reached  Constantinople.  From  there  thev  have  spread 
throughout  the  empire  using  the  means  already  at  hand  of 
assisting  those  who  are  overborne,  and  are  bringing  relief  to 
the  sufferers  in  all  the  empire. 

To  give  that  work  in  all  its  details  would  require  a  volume 
by  itself.  Erzrum,  Trebizond,  Bitlis,  Van,  Mardin,  Harput, 
Sivas,  Cesarea,  Marsovan,  Urfa,  Aintab,  Marash,  are  the  cen¬ 
tres.  To  them  from  every  direction  come  in  the  anxious 
suffering  victims  of  the  most  barbaric  cruelty  the  world  has 
ever  known.  From  them  go  forth  the  streams  of  life  to  the 
thousands  of  poor  unfortunates  unable  to  leave  even  the 
miserable  shells  of  homes  left  to  them.  Eno-ao-ed  in  this 
work  are  noble  men  and  women  of  high  education  and 


COURAGE  OF  MISSIONARIES. 


5H 

the  greatest  refinement.  It  is  is  no  easy  task  for  them  to  meet 
the  scenes  that  face  them  on  every  side.  Regardless  of 
threats,  fearless  of  disease,  anxious  only  to  do  for  the  poor 
people,  whose  sole  return  can  be  a  “  God  bless  you,”  spoken 
out  of  depths  such  as  are  unknown  in  more  favored  lands, 
they  stand  at  their  posts  clothing  the  naked,  washing  the 
wounded,  binding  up  broken  limbs  and  soothing  broken 
hearts.  Well  did  Sir  Philip  Currie,  the  British  Ambassador, 
say  of  them,  that  in  the  great  cloud  of  disaster  and  ruin,  the 
one  bright  thing  that  stood  out  before  the  world  was  the  cour¬ 
age,  devotion  and  common  sense  of  the  American  Mission¬ 
aries.  And  now  they  are  joined  by  Clara  Barton,  represent¬ 
ing  altogether  that  highest  reach  of  American  help  for 
the  needy.  A  grand  company,  an  object  lesson  to  the  world 
of  American  Christianity. 

We  can  do  no  better  than  to  give  extracts  from  letters  from 
Van  and  Harput,  describing  the  relief  work  in  those  places. 
The  following  was  written  in  Van  in  December,  1895  : 

“  Dr.  Kimball  now  employs  over  nine  hundred  persons, 
who  represent  over  forty-five  hundred  souls  who  are  kept 
from  starving  and  freezing  this  winter  through  her  efforts  and 
the  contributions  of  friends.  Yet  she  has  to  turn  away  hun¬ 
dreds  of  applicants  who  crowd  around  her  daily  with  such 
desperate  persistance  that  she  cannot  walk  from  her  work¬ 
shop  here  without  being  fairly  pulled  to  pieces  by  the  famish¬ 
ing  crowd.  It  can  readily  be  imagined  that  this  turning  away 
of  applicants  is  the  hardest  part  of  her  work.  Of  this  nine 
hundred  the  greater  part  are  spinners  and  weavers,  and  are 
paid  off  by  a  native  employe ;  eighty-six  are  sizers,  carders, 
cutters  and  weighers,  whom  she  personally  pays  off.  On  one 
Saturday  evening  she  paid  off  these  men  and  opened  a  new 


dr.  kimball's  work. 


5i5 


account  with  each  between  half-past  four  and  half-past  six. 
But  since  the  beginning  of  the  massacres  of  the  last  two 
months,  her  work  has  been  trebled. 

“Some  of  the  villagers,  many  in  fact,  were  forcibly  kept 
within  their  own  boundaries,  to  starve.  Thousands  of  others, 
in  the  scanty  rags  left  them,  toiled,  hungry  and  half  frozen, 
through  the  snows  to  the  city.  Dr.  Kimball  immediately 
undertook,  single-handed,  to  relieve  them.  Immense  crowds 
of  the  miserable  creatures  throng  her  court  daily.  She  has 
the  case  of  each  investigated,  thoroughly  and  with  despatch, 
then  registers  him,  gives  him  a  ticket  on  the  two  bread  ovens 
she  has  rented  and  runs  herself,  and  gives  him  clothing — 
clothino-  which  has  been  manufactured  by  her  own  workers, 
from  the  raw  cotton  and  wool.  To  avoid  being  cheated  and 
to  give  work  to  more  needy  people,  she  has  a  department 
which  cuts  and  sews  garments  for  these  poor,  which  she 
gives  out  instead  of  piece  goods.  She  has  just  started 
another  department  which  is  making  bedding  for  the  same 
poor.  Thus  in  these  weeks  she  has  fed  and  clothed  over 
4,800.  Every  detail  of  the  work  requires  her  personal 
supervision,  so  you  may  understand  why  she  is  so  busy.  She 
has,  besides,  several  surgical  cases.  Her  workpeople  beg 
to  be  paid  in  bread  instead  of  money,  so  she  wishes  to  open 
another  oven.  But  just  now  funds  seem  to  be  gathering 
slowly  in  England,  and  fearful  of  debt,  she  has  resolved  to 
register  no  new  cases  till  the  next  mail  comes  at  least,  with, 
we  hope,  more  encouraging  financial  news.  One  great  dif¬ 
ficulty  is  the  scarcity  of  money  in  the  city.  The  governor 
gave  out  that  he  would  open  an  oven  for  the  poor,  and 
several  thousand  were  registered,  but  no  oven  has  been 
opened  by  him  nor  ever  will  be,  though  he  will  get  the  full 
credit  of  such  a  proceeding  in  Constantinople  and  Europe." 


a  missionary’s  letter. 


5i6 

The  following  was  written  to  friends  in  this  country  by  one 
of  the  missionary  company  at  Harput,  and  gives  a  very  vivid 
picture  of  the  scenes  in  that  city,  one  of  the  great  centers  of 
relief  work: 

“  I  never  shall  forget  the  moment  when  I  first  realized 
(after  the  massacre)  that  the  clothes  I  wore  and  the  change 
which  I  had  in  a  shawl  bag  with  me  were  all  my  earthly  pos¬ 
sessions.  It  was  a  good  feeling,  not  only  because  there 
seemed  to  be  just  so  much  less  to  separate  me  from  Christ 
and  heaven,  but  because,  surrounded  as  we  were  in  that 
college,  by  400  of  our  people  who  were  stripped  of  every 
comfort,  we  could  feel  that  not  one  of  them  could  turn  and 
say,  ‘You  cannot  understand  our  sorrows.’  That  first 
night  and  the  next  morning  after  the  attack,  when  to  each  of 
us  was  given  a  small  piece  of  bread  for  our  meal,  again  there 
was  a  feeling  of  fellowship  which  I  doubt  not  did  us  all 

“  All  honor  to  the  brave  cook  who  first  dared  to  go  out  to 
the  market  and  bring  us  something  a  little  more  relishing. 
It  seemed  to  us  a  deed  almost  worthy  of  being  mentioned 
with  David’s  brave  men  who  brought  him  water  from  the 
well  at  Bethlehem.  To  be  sure,  every  mouthful  half  choked 
us,  at  first,  because  of  the  mental  strain  upon  us,  but  soon 
we  appreciated  the  fact  that  it  was  our  duty  to  try  to  live. 
We  were,  many  of  us,  sleeping  on  the  floor  on  hard  mat¬ 
tresses,  five  feet  long  and  three  and  a  half  wide.  Imagine 
three  of  us  occupying  one,  with  half  of  the  body  resting  on 
the  bare  floor.  But  sleep  was  good.  It  was  the  awaking 
each  morning  to  a  realization  of  the  horror  of  our  situation 
which  seemed  an  evil. 

‘‘When  the  mixtures  of  feathers,  molasses,  straw,  papers, 


RELIEF  WORK. 


517 


flour  and  canned  fruits  was  cleaned  from  the  two  homes 
remaining  to  us  missionaries,  there  commenced  the  work  of 
making  bedding  and  a  very  little  necessary  clothing,  and 
gathering  together  household  utensils.  At  first  it  was  a 
grave  question  where  we  should  get  any  money.  The  safes 
of  the  station  had  proved  no  barrier  whatever  to  the  greed 
of  the  plunderers.  Few  of  us  had  had  enough  fear  of  an 
attack  to  try  to  save  money  or  valuables,  or,  if  we  had,  the 
fear  was  so  desperate  as  to  leave  no  heart  to  care  for  worldly 
possessions.  The  other  world  seemed  too  near  for  us  to 
have  any  ‘  thought  for  the  morrow.’  But  it  was  remarkable 
how,  little  by  little,  the  market  furnished  us,  not  only  with 
money,  but  with  supplies  for  all  our  immediate  wants.  I 
need  not  tell  you  how  delightful  it  seemed  the  first  time  we 
sat  on  a  whole  chair,  at  a  table,  with  a  cloth  and  napkins  and 
with  a  knife  and  fork  and  spoon  apiece  !  Nor  what  sleep 
was,  the  first  time  we  stretched  ourselves  upon  our  beds  ! 

“As  soon  as  it  seemed  safe  for  the  people  to  leave  the 
College  and  scatter  to  their  homes,  we  who  had  been  the 

o 

touring  missionaries,  Miss  Seymour  and  myself,  hired  one 
room  where  we  commenced  to  have  bedding  made  for  the 
boys  in  the  school.  Soon  it  seemed  evident  that  this  was  the 
beginningof  a  widespread  work  of  relief  for  the  sorely  stricken 
people  in  all  this  region.  The  work  has  naturally  divided 
itself  up  among  those  who  were  freest  to  take  it  in  charge. 

“  Dr.  Barnum  and  Mr.  Gates  have  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
Relief  Work.  God  bless  them  for  their  undaunted  courage 
in  the  time  of  fear,  attack  and  fire.  God  bless  them  for  the 
inspiration  of  their  faith  and  trust  in  Him  and  for  their  skill  and 
wisdom  in  dealing  with  the  difficulties  of  our  situation.  Day 
after  day,  for  many  weeks,  their  rooms  have  been  crowded 


5i8 


TURKISH  EXTORTIONS. 


with  people  of  all  classes.  Sometimes  there  is  a  procession 
of  ragged  villagers  shivering  with  the  cold  ;  then  again  five  or 
six  Armenians  of  influence,  now  humbled  and  anxious  ;  later, 
two  or  three  Turkish  officers  whose  present  state  of  mind  and 
heart  we  will  not  pretend  to  fathom.  All  sorts  of  things  are 
wanted,  from  ‘  Akkul  ’  (wisdom)  down  to  five  paras  (half  a 
cent).  One  man  tells  how  a  neighbor  has  gained  possession 
of  his  bed  and  won’t  give  it  up ;  another  of  how  a  Turkish 
Bey  wishes  him  to  sign  a  receipt  for  eighty  pounds  which  the 
former  never  has  paid,  and,  if  he  does  not  sign,  the  Bey  will 
burn  his  fathers  house  !  Another  comes  to  plead  that  money 
may  be  given  to  release  one  of  our  school-girls,  still  held  in 
possession  by  the  Kurds.  A  Turk  comes  to  say  that  two 
or  three  of  our  horses  have  been  found  and  he  can  get  them, 
for  a  suitable  compensation.  Another  comes  to  say  that  he 
knows  where  our  lamps  are.  One  man  wants  to  rent  us  a  safe, 
another  wishes  to  get  money  and  another  to  give  that  scarcest 
of  all  articles.  During  a  quiet  evening  of  rest  at  home,  in 
comes  a  Protestant,  full  of  deep  anxiety  for  his  sister  in  a 
near  village.  She  and  all  her  relatives  have  become  Moslems 
in  name  through  fear,  and  now  the  Turks  insist  that  she  shall 
marry  her  brother-in-law  who  has  one  wife  already  !  A  living 
death  is  existence  on  this  earth,  to  such  as  these. 

“  In  the  midst  of  all  these  questions  which  truly  belong  to 
‘  Relief,’  come  long  consultations  about  letters,  telegrams, 
College  work  and  funds.  Dr.  Barnum  maybe  said  to  possess 
three  tongues,  English,  Turkish  and  Armenian,  which  he  uses 
at  will.  To  Mr.  Ellis  falls  the  work  of  giving  out  tickets  for 
bread.  He  now  has  some  1,500  hungry  people  on  his  list. 
He  also  superintends  workmen  in  tearing  down  or  building 
up  walls. 


RELIEF  ROOMS. 


5l9 


“  Miss  Seymour  and  I  found  the  one  room  far  too  small  for 
our  work.  The  latter  has  grown,  until  we  have  taken  the 
whole  house.  Immediately  after  breakfast  Miss  Seymour 
goes  there  to  find  the  front  room  packed  full  of  women  and 
girls  who  have  come  to  bring  back  the  suit  of  underclothes 
each  took  the  day  before,  receive  her  pay,  the  small  sum  of 
two  piasters  (nine  cents),  and  take  home  a  new  suit  to  sew. 
Or,  it  may  be  wool  for  a  pair  of  stockings,  for  knitting  which 
she  will  receive  nearly  sixteen  cents.  Miss  Seymour  com¬ 
mences  the  work  of  the  day  by  a  brief  reading  from  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  a  few  words  of  comfort,  and  prayer. 

“  Later  I  came  from  my  Bible  class  in  the  Male  Department 
of  the  College  and  we  worked  together  at  the  Relief  Rooms 
the  rest  of  the  day.  Three  other  rooms  in  the  house  are 
filled  with  women  who  are  cutting  out  garments,  and  bedding; 
sewing  these ;  filling  ticks  with  straw  and  quilts  with  wool ; 
spinning  thread  with  which  to  sew  and  carding  the  wool  for 
stockings.  We  also  buy  cotton  and  send  out  to  near  villages, 
to  furnish  the  poverty-stricken  people  with  spinning  and 
weaving.  At  first,  it  was  a  grave  question  how  many  whole 
spinning  wheels  and  looms  had  been  left  by  the  vandals  who 
had  broken  everything  they  could  not  carry  away  or  burn. 
From  these  rooms  have  gone  out  over  2,505  suits  of  under¬ 
clothes,  104  pairs  of  stockings,  220  mattresses,  302  comforta¬ 
bles,  besides  money  and  native  calico  for  outside  wear. 

“We  have  various  kinds  of  helpers  in  the  work;  one,  our 
Rebecca,  a  graduate  of  the  College,  patiently  sits  by  us  all 
day  long,  to  write  down  the  names  of  those  who  are  to  take 
suits  and  cross  off  the  names  when  they  are  returned  and 
paid  for.  Then  there  is  the  energetic  Vartar,  superintendent 
of  all  the  cutting  and  sewing ;  she  leaves  at  home  each  day 


520 


BRAVE  ARMENIANS. 


a  little  son  and  daughter,  both  wounded  in  the  massacre 
here ;  the  little  boy  has  been  a  great  sufferer,  and  has  longed 
to  go  and  be  with  Christ.  There  is  Caspar,  our  touring 
servant,  who  now  buys  our  thread  and  straw  and  runs  on 
errands  generally.  Then  Asdur,  who  was  the  first  to  brave 
the  dangers  of  a  ride  to  Mezreh  to  send  telegrams  to 
Minister  Terrell,  informing  him  of  our  condition,  and  who  has 
ever  since  gone  hither  and  yon  to  hunt  up  cloth  and  money, 
dive  into  Turkish  houses  after  bedding  and  stolen  goods,  and 
carry  and  bring  telegrams  and  registered  letters.  Then 
Giragos  from  Hoh,  across  the  plain.  His  home,  shop  and 
fields  he  has  been  obliged  to  leave  to  their  fate  and  flee  here 
to  save  his  life,  or,  worse  than  death,  to  save  himself  from 
being  made  a  Moslem  by  force.  His  face  lights  up  with  joy 
at  every  good  deed  we  call  upon  him  to  undertake.  He 
found  fifty-three  refugees  from  the  plundered  village  of  Geol- 
juk,  the  other  day,  and  was  made  happy  by  the  privilege  of 
dealing  out  a  bit  of  money  to  each  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
suits  of  clothes  to  take  back  to  the  village.  It  is  he  who  buys 
cotton  for  us,  weighs  it  and  gives  it  out  to  villagers  and 
gives  us  the  account.  Then  come  Sitrag,  Mardiros  and 
Hohannes.  The  first  fled  from  the  village  of  Hoh,  where 
he  was  preaching,  just  in  time  to  escape  the  attack  there. 
The  second  was  one  of  our  colporteurs.  He  was  away  at 
a  village  and  was  robbed  of  all  his  books  and  most  of  his 
clothing  and  came  here  bare-footed  and  bare-headed.  The 
last  is  a  preacher  who,  the  past  winter,  was  sorely  discouraged 
over  his  work  in  a  near  village  and  became  really  ill  over  it, 
but  is  now  well  and  glad  to  work  for  others.  These  three 
are  constantly  examining  into  cases  needing  relief  and  enter¬ 
ing  their  homes  to  see  whether  the  need  warrants  our  incur- 


SAD-EYED  WOMEN. 


521 


ring  expense  for  them.  We  are  often  in  sore  perplexity 
over  these  cases.  We  are  constantly  in  danger  of  running 
on  the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  of  severity  and  too  large  merci¬ 
fulness.  It  needs  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  and  the  harm¬ 
lessness  of  the  dove  to  do  just  right  and  then  we  have  to  run 
the  risk  of  some  criticism,  but  we  know  that  this  must  be 
expected,  and  we  do  seek  to  walk  carefully  and  to  obtain  wis¬ 
dom  from  on  high. 

“It  would  require  volumes  to  tell  you  the  touching  inci¬ 
dents  of  this  relief  work.  How  many  of  those  dear  boys 
and  girls  in  the  College,  whose  bedding  was  freshly  and  nicely 
arranged  for  this  term  by  a  kind  mothers  hands,  were  soon 
to  mourn  with  her,  she  in  some  distant  city  and  they  here, 
the  massacre  of  husband  and  father.  The  father  and  two  of 
the  brothers  of  two  of  our  girls  were  slain  in  the  massacre 
at  Chermuk,  which  was  one  of  the  most  severe  and  horrible 
of  any  place.  About  650  men  were  killed  in  that  small  town 
where. are  only  400  Christian  houses.  Anna,  the  mother  of 
these  girls,  was  three  times  stripped  of  all  but  two  pieces  of 
underclothing.  Finally  a  kind  Turk  told  his  wife  that  she 
would  be  much  to  blame  if  she  did  not  clothe  and  feed  that 
poor  widow  and  her  children.  But,  fearing  worse  evils,  in 
spite  of  all  the  dangers  from  robbers  and  the  journey  in  win¬ 
ter,  she  made  her  way  here,  where  we  have  given  her  cloth¬ 
ing,  bedding,  bread  and  work,  and  I  trust,  some  comfort  for 
her  wounded  heart.  Her  husband  and  sons  were  not  even 
given  burial.  Our  devoted  Churkush  pastor  perished  nobly 
testifying  for  Christ,  and  his  wife  also  braved  the  dangers 
of  the  mountain  journey  rather  than  be  separated  longer 
from  her  eldest  son  who  is  in  college  here.  We  look  into 
the  sad  eyes  of  these  women  and  do  not  need  to  ask  them 


522 


FROZEN  TO  DEATH. 


what  they  have  seen.  Oh!  the  depths  of  anguish  which 
only  one  look  reveals  and  yet  they  are  so  patient.  God  com¬ 
fort  them. 

“  Another  day  comes  word  of  an  arrival  from  Malatia,  a 
beautiful  woman,  with  five  young  children.  Last  year  she 
was  inconsolable  over  the  death  of  her  husband  from  cholera. 
Now  she  tells  in  the  most  tragic  style  of  those  awful  days 
of  fighting- ;  of  the  surrender  of  the  church  in  which  the 
Christians  had  sought  refuge  ;  of  her  discovery  of  some  rela¬ 
tives  after  having  wandered  about  alone  in  her  flight  to  the 
church  ;  of  passing  out  through  files  of  soldiers  ;  of  God’s 
wonderful  protection  so  that  not  a  Turk  or  Kurd  looked  at 
her  or  her  children  for  evil  ;  then,  with  home  and  property 
all  gone,  finally  comes  the  dangerous  journey  here  and  a 
shelter  with  her  poor  old  mother-in-law,  and  our  supply  for 
her  immediate  wants. 

“  A  company  of  women  from  Palu  came  in,  who  fled  from  that 
place  of  horrors,  because  defenseless  women  and  girls  are 
constantly  being  carried  off  by  Turks  and  Kurds  and  men 
are  turning  Moslem  from  fear.  One  poor  woman,  thin  and 
white,  her  face  almost  covered  with  her  veil,  in  true  Palu 
style,  but  shivering  with  cold  and  nervousness,  told  of  the 
death  of  her  two-weeks-old  baby  on  the  road.  The  little 
thing-  was  frozen  ! 

o 

“  A  woman  from  a  village  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  plain 
is  brought,  just  rescued  from  the  house  of  a  Kurd,  where 
she  had  been  held  captive  during  the  three  weeks  since  the 
assault.  She  now  works  in  our  rooms  and  we  have  tried 
to  do  all  we  can  to  comfort  her  for  her  murdered  husband 
and  that  awful  three  weeks,  but  never  a  smile  lights  up  her 
face.  More  pitiful  still  was  the  case  of  two  little  girls,  sis- 


NOVEL  HEAD-COVERINGS. 


523 


ters,  who  had  been  carried  off  in  the  same  way.  A  brother, 
fearfully  wounded,  their  only  protector,  and  he  was  not 
able  to  save  them  from  the  bitter  experience  so  common  in 
these  days  of  lawlessness.  More  than  one  mother  has 
brought  her  daughter  to  this  city  to  be  under  our  protection 
as  far  as  possible,  fearing  greater  evils  than  death. 

“An  Oriental  woman  thinks  more  of  her  head-covering 
than  of  any  other  part  of  her  attire.  What  rags  of  black 
kerchiefs  now  cover  the  heads  which  bend  low  before  us  un¬ 
til  they  kiss  our  feet  to  beg  for  charity.  Other  city  women 
who  clothed  themselves  in  silk  dresses  and  sheets,  now  ap¬ 
pear  in  coarse,  loose  Turkish  trousers  and  on  their  heads  a 
common  old  cloth.  They  dare  not  do  otherwise,  for,  if 
they  appear  in  a  shawl,  some  Turk  is  sure  to  say  in  passing, 
with  a  look  of  hatred,  ‘  Ha  !  you  still  wear  shawls,  do  you  ?’ 
The  family  comb,  even,  has  gone  in  many  cases,  and  for  many 
days  there  was  an  indiscriminate  borrowing  of  this  useful 
article ! 

“Very  many  priests  were  slain  in  the  massacres  and  those 
who  have  escaped  have  been  to  us,  from  far  and  near,  for 
bedding  and  clothing.  They  are  exiles  from  their  homes  at 
present,  not  daring  to  return,  lest  they  should  be  killed.  To 
such  we  seek  to  deal  most  liberally,  for  we  hope  to  show  the 
true  spirit  of  gospel  love  and  to  break  down  the  wall  of  par¬ 
tition  which  has  so  long  separated  them  from  us.  Hence¬ 
forth  we  wish  the  names  Protestant  and  Gregorian  to  be 
merged  in  the  one  holy  title  of  Christian. 

“  One  man  from  a  village  where  we  have  long  tried  to  find 
entrance,  but  encountered  bitter  and  unconquered  opposition, 
pleaded  for  help  most  persistently.  Finally  I  said,  ‘  Brother,  I 
do  not  know  you  ;  how  can  I  tell  if  you  are  really  needy?  If 


524 


WONDERFUL  DELIVERANCES. 


you  were  a  Hulakeghli,  (a  native  of  a  village  near,  where  we 
have  had  a  flourishing  church),  I  should  be  able  to  tell  your 
name  and  your  circumstances  and  to  trust  your  word.  Now 
I  want  to  help  you,  but  am  puzzled ;  see  what  you  have  lost.’ 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  we  found  a  safe  way  of  helping  even 
that  dark  village,  and  Mr.  Gates  was  much  pleased  with  the 
way  money  was  distributed  there  by  their  own  people. 

“  Many  have  been  the  wonderful  deliverances  of  our  Prot¬ 
estant  pastors  and  preachers.  The  preacher  at  Palu  was 
separated  from  his  wife  and  both  were  in  the  greatest  peril. 
He  was  in  hiding  in  a  stable  with  his  wife  at  first,  when  the 
Kurds  came  in  and  attacked  and  killed  the  men  there.  Baron 
Asdur,  this  preacher,  was  saved  by  clinging  to  two  women  to 
prevent  their  separating  enough  from  each  other  so  that  he 
could  be  seen.  Finally,  during  another  attack  there,  they 
were  all  driven  from  that  spot  and  he  received  what  was  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  his  death-blow.  His  poor  little  wife  sat  and  wept 
over  him  awhile,  then  fled,  alone,  for  her  life,  from  one  spot 
to  another.  A  Kurd  seized  her  in  the  street  and  said,  ‘Now 
you  are  to  be  my  wife!’  He  dragged  her  off  a  little  way 
when  she  saw  two  soldiers.  She  pulled  away  from  the  Kurd, 
crying  out,  ‘I  won’t  go  with  this  man!’  and  placed  herself 
under  their  protection  (?),  half  crazed  with  fear  as  she  was. 
A  well-known  Turk  in  the  city  saw  her,  picked  up  her  shoes 
and  veil  and  put  them  on,  and  took  her  to  his  house  with  the 
assurance  that  she  was  to  be  his  wife!  Poor  child,  she  was 
joined  there  by  many  refugees  and  one  of  them  who  knew 
her  soon  said,  ‘  Do  you  know  that  your  husband  is  down 
stairs?’  She  hastened  down  to  find  him,  pale  and  ghastly, 
standing  in  the  hall  of  the  Turk’s  house.  The  story  of  how 
they  were  ejected  from  that  shelter,  as  the  Turk’s  life  was  in 


BIBLES  DESTROYED. 


525 


danger  if  he  protected  them  longer,  of  their  appeal  to  the 
Governor  of  Palu,  of  another  kind  Turk’s  lending  them 
money  to  escape  to  Ichme  (the  wife’s  native  village,  on  this 
plain,  and  a  journey  of  eight  hours),  and  of  his  flight  from 
there  here,  clad  in  coarse,  old  village  clothes  which  he  had 
picked  up,  is  too  long  to  relate  in  detail.  He  was  not  safe  in 
Ichme,  since  our  pastor,  the  priest,  and  many  of  the  chief  men 
had  become  martyrs  and  others  left  alive  had  become  Mos¬ 
lems.  The  sequel  was  that  Sara  followed  him  here  ;  we  gave 
them  clothing  and  bedding,  and  a  small  salary  was  continued. 
A  babe  was  born  to  them  soon  after  they  were  nicely  settled, 
but  Sara  lived  only  a  few  days,  and  one  of  the  works  of  relief 
done  by  willing,  sympathizing  hands,  was  to  buy  cloth  for  the 
burial  dress,  and  for  the  lining  to  the  outside  and  inside  of 
the  plain  wooden  box  in  which  her  tired  body  was  laid  to  rest. 
In  a  couple  more  days  he  buried  his  old  mother,  who  had  fled 
from  the  fearful  attack  on  Hueli,  another  village  on  the  plain. 

“There  is  a  famine  of  the  Word  of  God  in  our  field,  for 
thousands  of  Bibles  and  Testaments  in  cities  and  villages 
have  been  trodden  under  foot,  torn  to  shreds,  or  thrown  into 
the  fire  to  burn ;  and  one  of  the  most  touching  questions 
asked  us  in  our  Relief  Rooms  is,  ‘  Haven’t  you  a  Bible  to  give 
me?  We  long  for  a  Bible.’  We  have  to  tell  them  that  all 
the  great  store  we  had  of  God’s  precious  word  is  gone  and 
even  Miss  Seymour  and  I  have  no  English  or  Armenian  Bible 
of  our  own,  only  each  a  little  Testament.  So  Miss  Wheeler 
is  superintending  the  printing  by  hand  of  packages  of  texts 
of  Scripture  which  are  distributed  with  the  work  each  day, 
and  by  Dr.  Barnum  and  Mr.  Gates  to  men  who  come  to  them. 
The  boys  of  the  school  do  this  printing  to  earn  their 
schooling. 


526 


SURVIVORS  BEGGING. 


“  I  have  said  that  we  examined  the  cases  carefully,  to  see  if 
we  were  warranted  in  giving  relief.  It  is  true  that  there  are 
thousands  of  cases  we  can  never  reach.  It  is  also  true  that  there 
is  scarcely  an  Armenian  family  anywhere  that  does  not  need 
help,  for  with  merchandise  and  tools  plundered,  with  roads 
too  dangerous  for  travel  and  public  confidence  all  gone,  what 
is  there  in  the  present  or  future  to  awaken  hope  ?  How  are 
those  who  are  in  these  circumstances  to  live  ?  Another  grave 
problem  is  the  difficulty  of  getting  money  as  fast  as  it  is  wanted. 
There  is  no  credit.  People  cannot  get  their  debts  paid,  or 
drafts  cashed.  In  Malatia,  where  4,000  Armenians  and  per¬ 
haps  1,000  Turks  were  killed,  the  ^50  we  first  sent  was 
divided  up  among  the  most  needy  and  about  3^  piasters,  or 
14  cents,  was  given  to  each  person,  or  22^  piasters  to  a 
family  of  six  persons — that  is,  about  90  cents.  Remember 
that  everything  is  gone,  houses,  bedding,  clothing,  stores  of 
food,  shops  and  merchandise.  It  is  said  that  widows  and 
orphans  wander  about  the  streets  begging,  even  going  into 
the  market-place  in  their  desperation,  and  there  the  Turks 
often  stand  and  throw  out  handfuls  of  nuts,  or  crumbs  of 
bread,  and  laugh  to  see  the  poor  creatures  scramble  after  them. 

“  A  party  of  travelers  coming  from  Palu  saw  a  company 
of  people  coming  down  from  a  mountain  toward  them.  They 
proved  to  be  plundered  Christians,  driven  out  of  their  homes 
into  hiding-places  in  the  mountains,  where  they  were  subsisting 
on  green  stalks  of  wheat  and  such  herbs  as  they  could  find. 
They  begged  piteously  for  bread.  Who  can  describe  the 
anguish  of  this  land  !  ‘  O  Lord,  how  long !  ’  we  cry.  May 

God,  in  His  mercy,  move  multitudes  of  hearts  to  give  with 
rare  liberality  for  these  suffering  ones.  If  we  get  these  poor 
widows  and  orphans  through  the  winter,  what  means  of  living 


A  RECORD  OF  DEVOTION. 


527 


have  they  for  the  future  ?  Can  we  be  too  bold  in  our  plead¬ 
ing  that,  for  Christ’s  sake,  all  who  enjoy  the  comforts  and 
luxuries  of  life  will  give  until  they  feel  it,  for  so  pitiful  a  case  ? 
Do  you  wonder,  as  we  think  of  the  blighted  hopes  for  our 
homes  and  work,  that  we  say,  ‘  Is  the  past  a  dream,  or,  is  it 
the  present  which  is  the  dream,  and  shall  we  wake  to  find  the 
dear  old  rooms,  the  mementoes,  conveniences,  and  old,  loved 
paths  of  duty  ?  Whichever  it  is,  I  tell  you  that  we  are  content, 
and  only  know,  more  and  more  surely,  that  ‘  for  us  to  live  is 
Christ  and  to  die  is  gain.’  ” 

This  story  is  simple  fact,  told  by  a  woman  whom  the 
author  knows  well.  He  has  been  a  guest  in  those  Harput 
homes,  and  in  the  villages,  has  traveled  over  those  roads,  has 
shared  with  those  pastors  the  services  of  God’s  house.  Let 
his  own  most  earnest  testimony  emphasize  every  word  of  this 
record  of  devotion  and  of  suffering,  and  add  what  force  he  can 
to  the  plea  for  help — help  ere  it  be  too  late. 

31 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


Partition  of  Turkey. 


Factors  in  the  Problem— Turkey  and  Europe— Topography  of  the  Country— Distribution 
of  Population— Countries  Interested— Russia,  England,  France,  Austria,  Italy,  Germany, 
Greece,  Bulgaria— Desire  for  Territorial  Aggrandizement— Mutual  Jealousies— Possible 
Solution — Turkish  Factor  Often  Overlooked— Great  Difficulties  to  be  Met. 


HE  subject  of  the  partition  of  Turkey  has  been  prominent 


before  the  countries  of  the  world  for  fully  a  century.  At 


repeated  intervals  the  different  journals,  as  well  as  the  states¬ 
men  of  this  country  and  of  Europe,  have  given  considerable 
space  to  plans  for  such  a  partition.  That  partition  has  not, 
however,  as  yet  taken  place,  and  its  possibility  depends  upon 
a  large  number  of  factors  which  are  often  overlooked.  It  is 
the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  set  forth  the  situation  as  it  is, 
as  clearly  as  may  be,  not  with  a  view  to  making  any  prophecy 
of  any  kind — simply  to  furnish  the  basis  for  private  judgment. 

In  any  question  of  the  partition  of  an  empire,  two  factors 
are  prominent:  ist.  The  country  to  be  divided,  and  2d.  The 
people  among  whom  it  is  to  be  divided.  The  first  factor 
is  the  Turkish  Empire ;  the  second,  the  nations  of  Europe. 

The  Turkish  Empire  has  already  in  the  first  chapters  of 
this  book  been  described  in  general.  It  is  proposed  here  not 
to  repeat  those  statements,  but  to  gather  some  of  the  facts 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


529 


and  place  them  in  their  relation  to  this  particular  topic.  The 
first  factor  again  is  a  double  one,  (i)  the  country  itself,  and 
(2)  its  population. 

Topographically  the  Turkish  Empire  may  be  divided  into 
five  sections:  1.  European  Turkey.  2.  Asia  Minor,  extending 
from  the  Bosporus  and  the  Aegean  Sea  east  to  a  somewhat 
irregular  line  drawn  from  Samsun  on  the  Black  Sea  south  to 

o 

Alexandretta.  3.  Eastern  Turkey,  including  the  section  be¬ 
tween  Asia  Minor  and  Persia,  and  extending  south  along  the 
borders  of  Persia  and  the  Tigris  as  far  as  somewhat  below 
Mosul.  4.  Syria,  including  the  section  east  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  as  far  as  Aleppo  on  the  north  and  the  Hauran  on  the 
east;  and  5.  Mesopotamia.  Arabia  and  Egypt  practically  do 
not  enter  in.  Of  these  different  sections,  European  Turkey 
is  a  very  irregular  country,  including  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Adriatic,  Macedonia  and  the  southeastern  part  of  the  Balkan 
Peninsula  to  Constantinople.  It  is  a  very  diversified  section, 
with  really  no  distinctive  physical  characteristics.  Albania  is 
mountainous,  as  is  also  Macedonia  to  a  certain  degree,  but  the 
mountains  are  by  no  means  forbidding,  and  the  different  val¬ 
leys  furnish  comparatively  easy  access  in  every  direction. 
Topographically,  European  Turkey  offers  no  particular 
difficulties  to  the  progress  of  any  conquering  Powers,  the 
Balkans  being  eliminated.  As  we  cross  into  Asia,  how- 
ever,  the  situation  is  very  different.  Asia  Minor  consists 
chiefly  of  a  series  of  high  plateaus  averaging  about  4,000 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  separated  from  each  other 
by  rough  rather  than  mountainous  sections,  but  all  separated 
from  the  coast,  north,  south  and  west,  by  mountain  ranges  of 
no  very  great  height  indeed,  but  extremely  rugged  and  diffi¬ 
cult  of  passage.  Eastern  Turkey  is  entirely  mountainous, 


530 


SYRIA  AND  MESOPOTAMIA. 


with  numerous  valleys,  some  of  them  of  considerable  extent, 
so  that  they  may  fairly  be  called  plateaus.  Such  are  the 
plains  of  Erzrum  and  those  that  branch  off  from  it  into  the 
east,  the  plain  of  Mush  and  the  plain  of  Van.  The  moun¬ 
tains  are,  many  of  them,  very  severe,  not  merely  of  con¬ 
siderable  height,  but  extremely  difficult  of  passage. 

Passing  south,  Syria  is  divided  by  the  Lebanon  range  of 
mountains  into  the  narrow  coast-line  occupied  by  the  cities  of 
Tripoli,  Beirut,  Sidon,  etc.,  and  the  Hauran.  North  of  this, 
however,  is  a  somewhat  extended  plain  or  rolling  country, 
whose  chief  cities  are  Aleppo,  Urfa  and  Aintab.  On  the 
north,  where  the  Taurus  Mountains  form  the  division  be¬ 
tween  Syria  and  Asia  Minor,  there  are  quite  a  number  of 
cities,  such  as  Marash,  Albistan  and  others.  Mesopotamia  is 
pure  plain,  extending  from  the  sharply  defined  range  that 
borders  the  southern  part  of  Asia  Minor,  and  extends  to  a 
little  degree  into  Eastern  Turkey,  clear  to  the  Persian  Gulf. 
Often  this  is  looked  upon  as  desert,  but  there  is  comparatively 
very  little  of  real  desert,  and  even  the  unoccupied  land,  with 
a  little  irrigation,  becomes  fertile.  The  Mesopotamian  plain 
proper  is  as  beautifully  fertile  as  any  section  of  the  world. 

Of  these  different  sections  the  only  two  that  are  not  sepa¬ 
rated  from  each  other  are  Asia  Minor  and  Eastern  Turkey. 
The  line  between  them  is  very  vague.  They  are  both  sepa¬ 
rated  very  distinctly  from  Syria  and  Mesopotamia  on  the 
south,  and  Syria  and  Mesopotamia  are  practically  set  apart 
from  each  other  by  a  wide  extent  of  uninhabited  land  where 
there  is  little  to  be  found  except  roaming  tribes  of  Bedouin 
Arabs.  These  intervenine  ranees  of  mountains  and  tracts 
of  uninhabited  country  are  traversed  by  almost  no  roads. 
On  the  Black  Sea  border  there  are  really  but  four  roads  that 


MOUNTAIN  RANGES,  ETC. 


531 


can  be  said  to  be  available,  penetrating  into  the  interior : 
Trebizond  to  Erzrum  ;  Samsun  to  Sivas  and  Harput;  Kera- 
sun  to  Sivas,  and  Ineboli  to  Castamuni.  Only  one,  that 
from  Trebizond  to  Erzrum,  can  really  be  said  to  be  a  good 
road.  That  from  Samsun  to  Sivas  was  at  one  time  fairly 
good,  but  is  now  in  much  disrepair.  Both  pass  over  such 
sharp  mountain  ranges  that  they  are  very  easily  defended  in 
case  of  attack,  and  a  comparatively  small  force  could  hold 
them  against  a  considerable  invading  army.  The  third  road, 
from  Ineboli  to  Castamuni,  passes  over  less  rugged  mountains, 
but  through  a  rough  country,  where  defense  is  easy.  On  the 
west,  the  roads  from  Constantinople  by  way  of  Nicomedia  to 
Angora  and  from  Smyrna  in  two  directions,  on  the  north  to 
Angora  and  on  the  south  to  Konieh,  pass  over  a  very  rough 
country,  easily  defended.  On  the  south,  from  the  seaboard  at 
Adana  there  is  a  very  rough  road  to  Cesarea;  also  one  ex¬ 
tremely  difficult  of  passage,  certainly  for  armies,  from  Aleppo 
to  Sivas  and  Harput.  From  Mosul  and  Mardin  to  Diarbekir 
and  on  to  Harput  there  is  a  fairly  good  road,  but  that  is  also 
over  a  considerable  mountain  pass.  East  of  these  there  are 
really  no  roads  at  all,  and  the  passage  from  Eastern  Turkey 
into  Persia  is  confined  to  mountain  paths. 

Topographically  thus,  Asia  Minor  and  Eastern  Turkey  are 
one  country,  separated  from  all  the  countries  around  and 
from  access  by  sea,  by  mountain  ranges  of  difficult  passage. 

Another  thing  that  must  be  kept  in  mind  is  the  general 
condition  of  the  country.  Normally  Asiatic  Turkey  is  ex¬ 
tremely  fertile,  not  merely  the  Mesopotamia  plain  already  re¬ 
ferred  to,  but  the  plateaus  and  valleys  to  the  north  produce 
the  most  wonderful  crops.  Under  the  administration  of  the 
past  century,  or  the  past  centuries,  however,  this  condition  has 


532 


KURDS,  CIRCASSIANS,  ETC. 


diminished  marvelously,  so  that  there  are  wide  sections  of 
country  practically  deserted,  with  no  cities,  towns  or  villages, 
and  not  a  sign  of  cultivation,  and  even  where  there  is  cultiva¬ 
tion,  that  is  carried  on  in  as  limited  a  degree  as  possible,  be- 
cause  under  the  oppression  ot  the  Turkish  Government  there 
is  no  incentive  to  increased  production.  The  most  noticeable 
result  of  this  condition,  from  the  present  standpoint,  is  that  a 
foreign  army  would  find  comparatively  little  upon  which  to 
subsist.  It  would  be  compelled  in  great  degree  to  carry  its 
provisions  with  it,  especially  in  the  face  of  the  opposition  of  the 
people. 

The  second  element  in  the  first  factor  is  the  population. 
The  general  characteristics  of  that  population  have  already 
been  stated  and  there  needs  to  be  no  repetition.  Here  it  is 
sufficient  to  indicate  the  general  distribution.  From  Constan¬ 
tinople  and  the  Aegean  Sea  through  Asia  Minor  and  through 
a  certain  part  of  Eastern  Turkey,  the  Turkish  population  is 
in  a  considerable  majority  over  all  others.  It  occupies  the 
great  plains  of  Central  Asia  Minor  in  strong  force.  It  is  found 
not  to  so  great  an  extent  in  the  mountainous  regions,  but  even 
there  it  is  the  predominant  element,  not  merely  by  virtue  of 
being  the  ruling  class  and  identified  with  the  government,  but 
because  of  its  force  of  character.  In  the  extreme  eastern  part 
the  Kurds  are  in  the  great  majority,  and  they  are  to  be  found 
in  considerable  numbers  through  all  the  mountain  sections  as 
far  west  even  as  Adana  on  the  south,  and  Samsun  on  the 
north.  Through  Western  Asia  Minor,  in  addition  to  the 
Turks,  there  are  numbers  of  Circassians  and  the  tribes  known 
as  Xeibecks,  Avshars,  etc.  Armenians  are  found  in  very 
nearly  equal  numbers  throughout  the  whole  section,  though 
there  is  notone  section  in  which  they  predominate.  They  are 


MOSLEMS  DOMINANT. 


533 


strong  in  the  cities  of  Van,  Erzrum,  Harput,  Sivas,  Cesarea, 
Marsovan  and  the  surrounding  plains;  also  in  the  mountain 
sections  of  Bitlis,  Mush,  Zeitun  and  Hajin.  The  Greeks  are 
found  chiefly  along  the  seaboard.  All  the  way  from  Trebi- 
zond  on  the  Black  Sea  to  Constantinople,  then  south  through 
Smyrna,  Adalia  to  Adana,  they  are  in  large  numbers,  chiefly 
in  the  vicinity  of  Smyrna,  but  they  form  a  considerable  element 
in  Central  Asia  Minor.  Armenians  are  found  to  some  extent 
all  through  Western  Asia  Minor.  In  no  one  section,  how- 
ever,  are  the  Christians  even  in  a  numerical  majority  over  the 
Moslems,  and  when  account  is  taken  of  their  general  condi¬ 
tion,  the  fact  that  they  have  no  arms,  have  not  been  allowed 
to  have  arms  during  all  these  centuries,  have  had  no  training 
in  organization,  and  have  had  their  mutual  jealousies  and  hos¬ 
tilities  constantly  developed  by  the  peculiar  system  of  govern¬ 
ment,  and  by  their  ecclesiastical  differences,  it  will  be  readily 
seen  that  it  is  impossible  to  expect  of  them  any  organized 
resistance  to  Moslem  government,  or  any  effective  assistance 
to  an  invading  army. 

Passing  south  into  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  very  much  the 
same  condition  of  things  is  seen.  There  are  numerous  Ar¬ 
menians  in  Northern  Syria,  Marash,  Aintab  and  Urfa.  In 
Aleppo  and  Syria  proper,  the  Syrians,  Jacobites  and  Maron- 
ites  are  the  ruling  Christian  sects,  and  in  Mesopotamia  the 
Jacobites,  Chaldeans  and  Nestorians.  The  Moslems,  how¬ 
ever,  are  everywhere  the  dominant  class.  Along  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  Tigris  to  a  considerable  distance  below  Mosul, 
the  Kurds  are  powerful,  not  merely  by  numbers,  but  in 
character,  being  of  a  higher  grade  than  their  fellows  to  the 
north.  Between  them  and  the  Syrian  coast,  the  whole  coun- 


534 


Russia's  claims. 


try  is  dominated  by  the  Arabs,  all  thoroughly,  even  where 
they  are  not  intensely,  Moslem. 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  second  general  factor  in  the 
question  of  partition,  the  different  countries  which  may 
be  supposed  to  be  interested  in  taking  their  share.  These 
countries  are  Russia,  France,  Austria,  Greece,  Bulgaria, 
Italy,  England  and  Germany,  named  in  the  order  of  their 
apparent  interest  in  the  acquisition  of  territory. 

Russia’s  idea  has  been  made  sufficiently  clear  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  pages  of  this  book.  It  may  be  briefly  stated  as 
follows :  She  needs  free  passage  for  her  merchant  marine 
into  the  Mediterranean,  in  order  to  the  best  development 
of  her  provinces,  and  also  for  her  navy,  in  order  that  it  may 
be  kept  in  good  condition.  At  the  best  her  egress  through  the 
Baltic  is  uncertain,  the  harbors  being  closed  by  ice  through  a 
considerable  part  of  the  winter,  and  the  entrance  to  the 
Baltic  is  too  easily  defended  by  other  nations  for  her  to  be 
confident  of  securing  an  always  open  passage.  That  is  the 
immediate  necessity.  Beyond  that  there  is  the  great  Russian 
idea  of  an  empire  that  shall  eclipse  all  previous  achievements 
of  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Greeks,  Romans,  French  and  Eng¬ 
lish.  The  future  of  the  Slavic  race  is  to  her  bound  up  in  her 
political  supremacy,  and  ever  since  the  time  of  Peter  the 
Great,  she  has  pressed  toward  that  point  with  unwavering 
fidelity,  not  always  with  uniform  energy,  frequently  allowing 
lapses,  yet  always  with  this  ultimate  idea  in  mind.  For  that 
the  entire  Turkish  Empire  is  essential  to  her.  She  claims 
herself  the  successor  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  through  the 
marriage  of  the  daughter  of  the  last  Byzantine  Emperor  to 
Ivan  III,  and  she  looks  upon  every  inch  of  territory  held  by 
that  empire  as  legitimately  hers,  and  proposes  to  claim  it  in 


FRANCE  AND  AUSTRIA. 


535 


due  time.  More  than  that,  as  the  defender  of  the  Orthodox 
Greek  Church,  she  claims  the  primacy  in  the  Holy  Places  and 
has  put  forth  every  effort  to  secure  her  recognition  there. 
With  Russia  thus,  there  is  pratically  no  such  thing  as  partition 
possible.  She  means  to  have  the  whole.  She  may  indeed 
waive  a  portion  of  it  for  the  time,  feeling  herself  unequal  to 
accomplishing  her  entire  purpose,  but  the  whole  she  claims, 
and  the  whole  she  is  determined  to  have  at  some  time  in  the 
future. 

France  has  no  very  great  designs  upon  Ottoman  territory. 
Undoubtedly  Napoleon  had  dreams  of  an  Eastern  Empire, 
but  it  may  be  questioned  whether  his  dreams  have  come 
down  to  the  present  Republic.  Still,  France  stands  to-day 
as  the  patron  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  holds 
hereditary  primacy  in  the  Holy  Places  in  Palestine.  More 
than  that,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  extended  its  in¬ 
fluence  throughout  Mesopotamia  in  a  great  degree,  and 
French  commercial  interests,  increasing  in  the  far  East,  have 
not  been  blind  to  the  opportunities  furnished,  first,  by  the 
Suez  Canal ;  second,  by  the  waterways  of  Mesopotamia  and 
the  Persian  Gulf.  Her  prompt  action  in  i860  secured  for  her 
troops  the  occupancy  of  Syria  and  a  general  diplomatic  prec¬ 
edence  in  Damascus  and  Beirut.  That  she  has  never  waived, 
but  has  rather  increased  by  numerous  means.  For  Con¬ 
stantinople  itself,  it  is  probable  she  cares  comparatively  little, 
but  she  does  assert  her  claim  to  Syria  and  her  interest  at 
least  in  Mesopotamia. 

Austria  comes  next,  as  the  Power  most  closely  interested 
in  a  share  as  residuary  legatee  of  the  Sultan’s  domain.  The 
Austrian  Empire  is  curiously  heterogeneous  in  its  character, 
embracing  as  it  does  Germans,  Czechs,  Magyars,  and  the 


536 


OTHER  EUROPEAN  POWERS. 


mountaineers  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina.  She  has  the  same 
need  that  Russia  has,  an  outlet  to  the  sea.  At  present  she 
holds  only  Trieste  and  Fiume,  but  has  for  some  time  looked 
with  longing  eyes  upon  the  rich  valley  of  the  Vardar,  with  its 
outlet  at  Salonica,  which  she  considers  a  legitimate  addition 
to  Bosnia.  Whavever  others  may  gain,  it  is  generally  con¬ 
ceded  that  Austria  would  look  for  this  at  least. 

Next  to  Austria  comes  Greece.  Her  ambitions  are  well 
known  and  her  desires  perfectly  natural.  She  wishes  Epirus 
and  Thessaly,  and  it  is  generally  conceded  that,  in  any  division, 
a  portion  at  least  of  those  sections  should  belong  to  her. 

On  the  other  hand,  Bulgaria  longs  for  Macedonia,  and 
Bulgaria  and  Greece  together  would  scarcely  look  with  ap¬ 
proval  upon  a  slice  of  Austrian  territory  right  between  them. 
Bulgaria  has  already  added  Eastern  Rumelia,  and  the  Uskup 
region,  and  the  upper  valley  of  the  Vardar  would  almost  in¬ 
evitably  fall  to  her  unless  Austria  should  come  down  and 
claim  the  whole. 

Italy's  interest  lies  less  in  the  Sultan’s  domain  than  in 
Austria.  She  has  long  felt  aggrieved  by  the  loss  of  Trieste, 
and  were  Austria  to  enlarge  her  borders  south  along  the 
Adriatic  coast  and  across  to  the  Aegean  at  Salonica,  Italy 
might  claim  that  her  ancient  port  should  be  restored  to  her. 

England  is  ordinarily  placed  among  the  first  of  those  in¬ 
terested  in  the  division  of  the  Sultan’s  domains.  It  is  evi¬ 
dent,  however,  that  her  interests  are  not  for  the  acquisition 
of  territory,  certainly  beyond  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  which 
she  now  holds.  Whether  her  occupation  of  Egypt  will  be 
permanent  or  not,  is  a  mooted  question.  There  is  an  in¬ 
creasing  feeling  in  England  that  if  only  there  can  be  some 
international  guarantee  for  the  inviolability  of  the  Suez  Canal, 


QUESTION  OF  PARTITION. 


537 


it  is  far  better  for  England  to  withdraw  her  troops,  and  to 
content  herself  with  developing  other  possessions  more 
thoroughly  and  entirely  her  own.  As  a  positive  factor  then 
with  regard  to  the  absorption  of  territory,  England  does 
.not  stand  in  the  front  rank  of  those  who  look  with  eager 
eyes  upon  the  distribution  of  the  spoils. 

Germany  comes  last,  because  she  really,  so  far  as  it  ap¬ 
pears,  has  no  desire  whatever  for  territorial  aggrandizement 
in  that  region,  and  is  mentioned  merely  because  of  her  pres¬ 
ence  as  a  factor  in  the  general  question. 

The  question  of  partition,  however,  is  not  by  any  means 
merely  one  of  special  aggrandizement  of  the  different  em¬ 
pires.  Even  deeper  interests  are  involved  in  the  mutual 
jealousies  of  the  Powers,  and  the  influence  that  they  seek  to 
exert  in  preventive  form,  are  in  some  respects  the  most 
potent.  While  England,  for  instance,  cares  little  or  nothing 
for  territorial  enlargement  at  the  expense  of  the  Sultan,  she 
does  care  very  much  that  Russia  should  not  overpower  the 
Suez  Canal.  While  Germany  has  no  designs  upon  Mace¬ 
donia  or  Asia  Minor,  it  is  to  her  of  great  importance  that  her 
nearest  neighbor  should  not  practically  surround  her,  by  ex¬ 
tending  his  domains  even  through  to  the  Atlantic.  Italy  cares 
nothing  about  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  but 
she  does  care  about  protecting  her  own  borders  against  the 
incursions  of  a  powerful  fleet  exercised  and  trained  in  the 
Black  Sea  as  an  inland  lake.  Greece  may  have  no  great  de¬ 
sire  beyond  Thessaly  and  Epirus,  but  she  has  no  ambition  to 
be  swallowed  up  by  the  great  Power  of  the  north.  Bulgaria 
has  fought  too  earnestly  for  independence  to  be  willing  to 
lose  all  the  ground  gained  during  these  past  years.  France 
will  scarcely  be  willing  to  see  her  traditional  influence  in 


533 


PARTITION  OF  TURKEY. 


Jerusalem  entirely  set  aside.  How  are  these  various  ambitions 
to  be  gratified,  and  these  jealousies  to  be  avoided?  That,  so 
far  as  the  European  Powers  are  concerned,  is  the  problem  in* 
volved  in  the  partition  of  Turkey. 

Various  solutions  have  been  offered.  The  most  plausible, 
is  one  outlined  in  a  prominent  English  journal  toward  the 
close  of  1895,  which  is  substantially  as  follows.  Commencing 
with  European  Turkey  :  Bulgaria  to  have  the  remainder  of 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula  up  to  within  a 
few  miles  of  Constantinople  ;  Austria  to  have  the  valley  of 
the  Vardar,  with  the  port  of  Salonica,  and  probably  the  Adri¬ 
atic  shore,  nearly  to  the  Ionian  Islands,  Greece  taking  the 
remainder;  Constantinople,  with  the  Bosporus,  the  littoral 
of  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  and  the  Dardanelles,  to  be  made  a 
Free  State,  with  some  sort  of  guarantee  by  the  European 
Powers,  not  unlike  that  by  which  Belgium  secures  her  inde¬ 
pendence.  In  Asia:  Russia  to  be  given  full  possession  of 
Eastern  Turkey,  including  the  cities  of  Trebizond,  Erzrum, 
Harput,  Van,  Bitlis,  Diarbekir  and  Mardin,  and,  if  she  desires, 
the  entire  Mesopotamia  plain  to  Mosul,  Bagdad  and  Bas- 
sorah,  thus  securing  an  outlet  to  the  Persian  Gulf;  France  to 
have  Syria,  including  the  coast  cities  of  Sidon,  Beirut,  Tripoli 
and  Alexandretta,  and  Damascus,  Aleppo,  Aintab  and  Urfa; 
Jerusalem  and  the  immediately  surrounding  country  to  be  made 
independent,  under  international  protection,  much  as  Con¬ 
stantinople  ;  England  to  be  allowed  Cyprus  and  Egypt,  the 
Suez  Canal  being  under  international  guaranties ;  Greece  to 
have  Crete,  Rhodes  and  the  other  islands  of  the  Archipelago, 
and  Austria  to  yield  to  Italy  Trieste.  Three  sections  remain, 
Arabia,  Tripoli  in  Africa  and  Asia  Minor.  The  first  would  be 
left  to  itself,  and  Tripoli  might  be  divided  between  Italy  and 


A  DIFFICULT  PROBLEM. 


539 


France ;  as  to  Asia  Minor,  there  is  more  of  doubt.  Until 
the  time  of  the  recent  massacres,  there  was  a  very  general 
feeling  that  this  might  be  left  to  the  Sultan,  with  his  capital 
at  Brusa,  where  his  line  began  its  reign,  or  at  Konieh 
(Iconium),  the  capital  of  the  first  Turkish  (Seljuk)  dynasty. 
Since  the  massacres,  there  has  arisen  a  popular  demand  that 
the  rule  of  the  Sultans  should  cease,  and  two  propositions 
have  appeared :  one  that  France  should  add  Asia  Minor  to 
Syria,  the  other  that  Russia  should  be  allowed  to  extend  her 
borders  west  to  the  Aegean  Sea  and  the  vicinity  of  Constanti¬ 
nople. 

In  this  and  in  all  similar  plans,  there  is  an  element  that  is 
practically  left  out  of  sight,  and  that  is  the  first  factor  men¬ 
tioned  above,  Turkey  itself,  the  country  and  its  people. 
There  seems  to  be  a  general  impression  that  about  all  that 
the  European  Powers  have  to  do  is  to  arrange  among  them¬ 
selves,  and  then  carry  out  any  plan  that  they  may  see 
fit.  The  difficulty  of  doing  this  will,  however,  be  apparent. 
To  begin  with,  there  is  the  country  itself,  difficult  of  access 
from  the  outside,  with  such  topographical  characteristics  as 
would  render  it  easy  to  carry  on  a  guerilla  warfare  for  a  long 
time,  necessitating  a  large  army  of  occupation,  and  so 
generally  destitute  that  the  troops  would  require  a  consider¬ 
able  commissariat.  There  is  also  the  population.  There  are 
at  least  6,000,000  Turks,  and  those  who  have  read  the  chapter 
on  the  Turks  will  readily  see  that  they  are  by  no  means  to  be 
overlooked.  They  are  not  at  all  the  effete  race  they  are 
sometimes  described,  but  in  the  interior  provinces  are  sturdy, 
powerful  men,  of  great  physical  endurance,  simple  habits, 
and  able  to  live  where  foreign  troops  would  scarcely  find 
sustenance.  Personally  they  are  brave,  as  the  Russians  who 


540 


ABSOLUTE  SUBJECTION  IMPOSSIBLE. 


met  them  at  Plevna  and  Shipka  can  testify;  they  have  no 
fear  of  death ;  indeed,  under  the  influence  of  their  priests, 
they  would  throw  themselves  into  the  defense  of  their  country 
with  a  vigor  and  a  recklessness  that  would  tax  the  best  troops 
of  Europe.  The  Turkish  army  may  be,  probably,  is  dis¬ 
organized,  yet  the  material  for  a  powerful  army  is  ready  at 
hand  and  needs  only  circumstances  to  call  it  into  being,  and 
make  it  an  engine  of  destructiveness  whose  power  it  would 
be  difficult  to  estimate.  Account  must  also  be  taken  of  the 
other  Moslem  tribes.  The  Kurds  are,  it  is  true,  cowardly 
and  easily  subdued  in  regular  combat.  They  are,  however, 
at  home  in  the  mountains  and  it  would  require  a  pretty  strong 
occupying  force  to  keep  them  in  absolute  subjection.  Two 
and  a  half  to  three  millions  of  such  men  are  an  element 
which  an  occupying  army  can  scarcely  ignore.  There  are, 
too,  the  Circassians  and  Lazes,  far  bolder  and  braver  than  the 
Kurds,  cherishing  bitter  resentment  for  their  expulsion  from 
the  Caucasus,  and  eager  to  take  vengeance  on  any  Christian 
within  reach;  the  Xeibecks,  Yoruks  and  Avshars,  of  Western 
Asia  Minor,  who  will  not  readily  yield  their  opportunities  for 
plunder ;  the  Druzes,  of  Syria ;  the  Bedouins  of  the  desert  and 
the  milder,  but  by  no  means  cowardly,  Arabs  of  Mesopotamia. 
To  suppose  that  the  entire  Moslem  world  of  Asiatic  Turkey 
would  quietly  stand  by  and  see  the  European  Powers  appor¬ 
tion  among  themselves  the  domains  that  have  belonged  to 
the  house  of  Osman  for  six  centuries,  is  scarcely  within  the 
bounds  of  reason.  It  must  be  remembered  too  that  the 
Christians  could  offer  little  resistance  to  the  Moslems  or  be 
of  great  help  to  the  invaders.  A  few,  perhaps,  like  the 
Armenians  of  Zeitun,  or  the  Nestorians  of  Tiari,  mig-ht  hold 

c> 

their  own  in  their  mountain  fortresses  for  a  time,  but  even 


EUROPE  UNDERSTANDS. 


541 


then  they  would  accomplish  little.  W ere  the  word  to  go  from  the 
minarets  of  the  Mosques,  from  Constantinople  to  Bagdad,  that 
the  Cross  was  threatening  to  destroy  the  Crescent,  there 
would  commence  a  slaughter  not  unlike  the  one  Kingsley 
describes  in  “Hypatia,”  when  the  Goths  entrapped  the  Alexan¬ 
drines  and  piled  the  corpses  in  the  center,  keeping  time  to 
the  weird  notes  of  their  leader’s  flute.  In  time,  the  succoring 
troops  might  come  but  they  would  find  the  land  one  vast 
charnel  house,  with  bones  and  tresses  of  hair  alone  left  to 
tell  the  story  of  the  races  that  for  the  centuries  have  kept 
true  to  their  Christian  faith. 

It  is  easy,  in  well  carpeted  and  luxuriously  furnished  draw¬ 
ing-rooms  and  newspaper  offices  in  Europe  and  America,  to 
demand  the  destruction  of  the  Turkish  Government,  to  lay 
down  plans  for  the  apportionment  of  the  empire,  and  then  to 
deride  statesmen  as  cowardly  because  they  hesitate  to  carry 
out  those  plans.  The  Cabinets  of  London,  Paris,  Vienna  and 
Berlin  understand  the  situation  perfectly,  and  they,  far  better 
than  newspaper  correspondents  and  chance  travelers,  know 
the  real  meaning  of  the  term,  “Partition  of  Turkey.”  They 
know  that  it  means  war,  if  not  among  themselves,  at  least 
with  a  race  that  has  never  yet  tamely  submitted  to  the  con¬ 
queror,  and  war  in  a  country  difficult  of  access,  and  easily 
defended.  War  means  heavy  expense,  and  the  treasuries  of 
Europe  are  by  no  means  full.  Already  the  cry  of  the  Socialists 
of  Germany,  the  Nihilists  of  Russia,  the  overburdened  farmers 
of  Italy  and  the  peasants  of  Austria,  is  loud  against  increased 
taxation,  and  partition  means  taxation.  The  object  of  this 
chapter  will  have  been  secured  if  it  is  made  clear  what  parti¬ 
tion  of  the  Turkish  Empire  involves, 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


America  and  Turkey. 

Early  Treaties — Some  Prominent  Ambassadors — American  Missionaries — Obedience  to  the 
Laws — Treaty  Rights — Questions  of  Importance — Indemnity  at  Harput  and  Marash — 
More  Consuls  Needed — Naturalized  Americans — Right  of  Domicile  Threatened — Posi¬ 
tive  Action  Needed — Duty  of  America. 

THE  question  will  naturally  arise,  What  are  America’s 
relations  to  the  general  situation  in  Turkey?  So  far 
as  benevolent,  religious  and  philanthropic  works  are  concerned, 
they  are  set  forth  in  the  chapters  on  Missions  and  Relief  Work. 
A  few  things  should  be  said  in  regard  to  the  relations  between 
the  two  governments.  The  first  treaty  between  the  United 
States  and  Turkey  was  negotiated  in  1830,  but  not  completed 
until  a  year  later,  by  Commodore  David  Porter,  as  Charge- 
d’ Affaires.  It  included  “  the  most  favored  nation  ”  clause  and 
placed  this  country  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  with  all 
the  European  Powers.  Subsequently  ambassadors  were  sent, 
and  their  number  has  included  many  men  of  eminence,  Geo. 
P.  Marsh,  Gen.  James  Williams,  E.  Joy  Morris,  Horace 
Maynard,  Geo.  H.  Boker,  Gen.  Lew  Wallace,  Oscar  S.  Straus, 
and,  at  present,  A.  W.  Terrell.  All  of  these  men  have  been 
on  terms  of  most  cordial  intimacy  with  the  Porte  and  the  Sul¬ 
tans,  and  have  exerted  a  strong  influence  in  favor  of  the  best 
good  of  the  empire.  Especially  since  the  Crimean  War,  on 
(542) 


AMERICAN  AMBASSADORS. 


543 


account  of  the  peculiar  relations  existing  between  Turkey  and 
the  great  Powers  of  Europe,  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the 
Sultans  and  their  Ministers  to  hold  more  informal  intercourse 
with  some  ambassador,  not  so  closely  connected  with  the 
diplomatic  questions  of  Europe.  Thus  the  Ministers  of  Bel¬ 
gium  and  Holland  have  at  times  been  peculiarly  intimate  with 
the  Turkish  administration,  but  probably  no  country  has,  on 
the  whole,  been  more  favored  in  this  respect  than  the  United 
States.  Mr.  Maynard,  Gen.  Wallace  and  Mr.  Straus,  each 
for  different  reasons,  personal  and  political,  have  been  specially 
prominent,  and  each  received  marked  tokens  of  the  friend¬ 
ship  of  the  Sultan. 

It  was  natural  that  their  care  should  be  especially  exercised 
for  the  missionaries  who  formed  almost  the  entire  American 
community  in  the  empire.  It  was  inevitable  also  that  the 
most  perplexing  questions  should  arise  in  connection  with 
their  work.  The  character  of  that  work  has  already  been 
described  in  general,  and  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  friction 
between  them  and  the  Turkish  Government  was  very  easily 
produced.  That  there  has  been  so  little  of  it,  is  due  both  to 
the  patience  and  common  sense  of  the  missionaries  and  the 
wise  conduct  of  the  American  Embassy.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  missionaries  realized  that  so  long  as  they  were  resi¬ 
dents  of  the  empire  they  were  under  obligation  to  obey  its 
laws.  If  those  laws  were  unjust  they  might  seek  to  secure 
their  modification,  but  until  that  was  secured,  the  laws  were 
obeyed.  Every  statute  as  to  the  censorship  of  books,  the 
erection  of  buildings,  the  conduct  of  public  service,  traveling 
from  one  place  to  another,  was  observed  most  scrupulously. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  ambassadors  made  it  clear  that  they 
were  there  purely  to  safeguard  American  rights,  and  that  their 


INDEMNITIES  WAIVED. 


544 

protection  of  American  citizens  was  dependent  upon  the  right 
conduct  of  those  citizens ;  they,  as  government  officials,  had 
nothing  to  do  with  their  special  work  as  teachers,  preachers 
or  philanthropists,  more  than  with  the  work  of  merchants, 
lawyers,  doctors,  mining  engineers,  or  travelers.  When,  how¬ 
ever,  the  natural  rights  of  those  citizens  were  affected  in  any 
way,  they  acted  promptly  and  effectively.  Three  American 
missionaries,  Mr.  Merriam,  of  Philippopolis  j  Mr.  Parsons,  of 
Nicoinedia,  and  Mr.  Coffin,  of  Hajin,  were  murdered  by 
bandits,  and  in  two  cases  execution  of  the  murderers  was 
secured.  At  one  time  Turkish  officers  entered  and  searched 
the  Bible  House  at  Constantinople,  without  observing  the 
regular  forms  of  treaty  law,  and  apology  and  indemnity  were 
given.  When  books  were  seized  by  local  censors  of  a  prov¬ 
ince  in  spite  of  their  having  the  regular  permit  of  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Bureau,  apology  and  indemnity  were  secured,  but  in  one 
case  the  State  Department  at  Washington  most  unfortunately 
overruled  the  Ambassador,  and  waived  the  indemnity,  thereby 
giving  encouragement  for  repetition  of  the  offense.  When 
Dr.  Raynolds  and  Mr.  Cole  were  attacked  and  almost  mur¬ 
dered  by  a  Kurdish  chief  in  the  vicinity  of  Bitlis,  he  was 
arrested,  tried  and  convicted,  on  the  urgent  demand  of  the 
Ambassador.  He  proved  too  powerful  for  severe  punish¬ 
ment  to  be  inflicted,  yet  good  was  done.  So  also  in  the 
case  of  Kurds  who  attacked  Miss  Melton  near  Amadieh 
in  1894. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  they  have  been  successful 
in  securine  from  the  Turkish  Government  punishment  of 
offenders  and  indemnity  for  injuries  whenever  they  have  had 
the  cordial  support  of  the  home  government.  Unfortunately 
there  have  been  times  when  the  State  Department  has  not 


STATE  DEPARTMENT’S  MISTAKES. 


545 


seemed  to  wholly  understand  the  case,  and  to  imagine  that 
the  difficulties  which  have  arisen  have  been  due  to  the  religious 
character  of  the  work  of  the  missionaries,  and  that  therefore 
they  cannot  claim  the  same  protection  which  would  be  accorded 
to  any  traveler  or  merchant.  This  has  been  a  most  serious 
mistake.  Those  who  will  read  the  pages  in  Chapter  X,  on 
Turkey  and  Europe,  in  which  the  first  treaty  between  Sulei¬ 
man  the  Magnificent  and  Francis  I  of  France  is  described, 
and  which  furnished  the  basis  for  all  succeeding  treaties  with 
foreign  governments,  will  readily  see  that  the  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment  has  always  recognized  the  right  of  foreigners  to  conduct 
public  worship,  open  schools,  publish  books,  etc.,  and  their 
claims  to  the  protection  of  their  own  governments  and  of  the 
Turkish  Government,  so  long  as  they  do  not  transgress  against 
the  laws  of  the  empire.  Only  as  they  do  transgress  those 
laws  do  they  forfeit  the  claim  to  protection.  Each  case  then 
should  be  judged  on  its  merits  in  the  same  way  that  similar 
judgment  would  be  passed  in  this  country.  Men  innocent 
of  crime  should  be  protected  to  the  full  extent  of  the  power 
of  this  government,  and  for  all  injury,  indemnity  should  be 
paid. 

There  are  certain  cases  of  great  importance  now  pending. 
The  burning  of  the  school  building  at  Marsovan  in  1893  has 
already  been  made  good  by  the  payment  of  indemnity  and 
the  granting  of  a  permit  for  rebuilding.  There  are  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  the  questions  as  to  the  destruction  of  American  prop¬ 
erty  at  Harput  and  Marash,  and  the  injury  to  American 
citizens  in  both  places.  The  responsibility  of  the  Turkish 
Government  is  easily  recognized  from  the  statements  in 
Chapters  XXIII  and  XXIV,  giving  account  of  those  massacres. 
There  was  military  force  enough  on  hand  in  each  place  for  full 


546 


CLAIMS  FOR  REPARATION. 


protection,  and  in  Harput,  the  finding  of  a  bomb  from  the 
cannon  of  the  regular  Turkish  artillery  is  proof  sufficient  of 
the  complicity  of  Turkish  officials.  The  American  Govern¬ 
ment  should  press  the  claim  for  full  reparation,  including  cash 
indemnity  for  loss,  permits  for  rebuilding  and  punishment  of 
the  officials  who  were  responsible.  Only  thus  can  there  be 
any  security  for  other  property  or  comfort  for  American  lives. 
The  question  has  been  raised  as  to  the  return  of  American 
citizens  from  Turkey.  It  has  been  urged  that  all  leave  the  in¬ 
terior  cities,  as  it  is  impossible  to  protect  them  there.  The  im¬ 
mediate  answer  is,  that  it  is  possible  to  protect  them  there,  as 
is  evident  from  the  experience  of  Miss  Shattuck  at  Urfa,  and 
of  others  at  Mosul.  The  Turkish  Government  has  the  power, 
and  will  exercise  it  if  it  finds  it  must.  The  missionaries 
decline  to  abandon  to  the  ferocity  of  brutal  Kurds  and 
Turks  people  whom  they  love,  and  large  property  entrusted 
to  their  care,  or  to  sacrifice  the  commanding  influence  in  the 
moral  and  spiritual  development  of  the  people  gained  during 
sixty  years  of  labor.  So  long  as  they  are  at  their  posts,  the 
actions  of  the  Turks  must  be  known.  Should  they  leave, 
massacre,  pillage  and  outrage  would  be  continued  with  im¬ 
punity.  For  every  reason,  not  merely  of  property,  but  of 
humanity,  they  should  be  protected  in  their  position. 

In  one  respect  America  is  weak  in  Turkey,  and  that  is  in 
the  matter  of  diplomatic  and  consular  representation.  At 
Constantinople  there  is  an  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary,  a  Secretary  of  Legation,  a  Consul  General 
and  Vice-Consul;  at  Smyrna,  Beirut  and  Jerusalem,  Consuls 
General ;  at  Trebizond,  Alexandretta  and  Mersine,  Vice-Con¬ 
suls,  and  Consular  Agents  at  some  other  places.  The  only 
Consul  in  an  interior  city  is  at  Sivas,  though  an  unpaid  Vice- 


AMERICAN  CONSULS. 


547 


Consul  is  located  at  Aleppo.  When  the  protocol  permitting 
American  citizens  to  hold  property  in  the  empire  was  adopted, 
it  was  evident  that  increased  Consular  representation  through¬ 
out  the  empire  would  be  necessary  in  view  of  the  large 
amount  of  property  held  and  the  number  of  persons  resident 
in  places  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  Consular  authority. 
Nothing,  however,  was  done  by  Congress,  chiefly  on  the  score 
of  economy,  and  Americans  were  dependent  upon  the  good 
offices  of  the  English  Consuls  at  Erzrum,  Van,  Diarbekir, 
Mosul,  etc.  When  the  Sassun  massacre  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  world  to  the  situation  in  Turkey,  special  effort  was  made 
in  Congress,  resultine  in  the  establishment  of  two  additional 
Consulates  at  Erzrum  and  Harput.  The  Consuls  were  ap¬ 
pointed  and  sent  to  Turkey,  but  the  Turkish  Government 
refused  the  necessary  exequaturs,  and  they  returned  to  this 
country,  practically  no  pressure  being  brought  to  bear  by  the 
State  Department  in  the  matter.  This  was  most  unfortunate. 
Had  there  been  a  Consul  at  Harput,  the  destruction  of  property 
would  not  have  occurred,  and  probably  not  a  little  of  the 
horror  of  massacre  would  have  been  mitigated. 

The  question  which,  however,  has  been  the  most  difficult 
to  settle  between  the  two  governments  has  been  that  in 
regard  to  naturalized  citizens.  The  peculiar  privileges  granted 
to  foreigners  under  the  treaties  have  always  occasioned  much 
hostility  on  the  part  of  Moslems  and  been  greatly  desired 
by  the  Christians.  The  English  rule  in  regard  to  natives 
of  other  countries  who  secure  English  citizenship  is,  that  that 
citizenship  is  void  on  their  return  for  residence  to  their  native 
countries.  This  principle  has  been  recognized  by  this  country 
wherever  naturalization  treaties  have  been  made,  as  with  Ger¬ 
many  and  other  countries.  It  is  an  evidently  correct  principle, 


54§ 


NATURALIZATION  TREATY. 


as  otherwise  American  citizenship  could  be  made  use  of  to 
avoid  military  service  and  many  other  duties.  Soon  after  the 
establishment  of  diplomatic  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Turkey,  a  number  of  Armenians  came  to  this 
country  for  purposes  of  education  or  business,  became 
American  citizens  and  afterwards  returned  to  Turkey  to  live. 
Among  them  were  some  who  studied  medicine  and  served  in 
the  civil  war  as  surgeons.  There  was  no  naturalization  treaty, 
and  they  claimed  and  received  the  full  protection  and  privi¬ 
leges  of  American  citizens.  So  long  as  they  were  few  in 
number  there  was  no  difficulty  raised,  but  others  of  their 
nation  and  of  other  nations  looked  on  with  envious  eyes,  and 
within  the  past  twenty  years  their  example  has  been  followed, 
until  a  large  number  of  Armenian-Americans  were  to  be  found 
scattered  over  the  country.  In  general,  they  did  not  make  their 
American  citizenship  known  until  they  got  into  trouble  of 
some  sort,  but  then  not  infrequently  they  were  the  occasion 
of  considerable  friction  between  the  governments.  The 
Turkish  Government  claimed  them  as  Armenians  and  Turkish 
subjects ;  the  American  Government  claimed  them  as  Ameri¬ 
cans.  Ordinarily  matters  were  arranged  by  some  diplomacy, 
but  it  became  evident  that  some  understanding  must  be 
secured.  Accordingly  a  naturalization  treaty  was  drawn  up. 
In  it,  however,  the  Turks  insisted  that  it  should  be  retroactive 
and  include  all  those  who  were  already  in  Turkey,  even  those 
who  had  served  in  the  American  army.  This  the  Senate  at 
Washington  refused  to  allow,  and  the  result  was,  failure  of 
the  negotiations.  Since  the  commencement  of  disturbances 
the  situation  has  been  much  aggravated.  The  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment  has  insisted  that  certain  Armenian-Americans  were  tak¬ 
ing  advantage  of  their  American  citizenship  to  disseminate 


SERIOUS  NATIONAL  QUESTIONS. 


549 


revolutionary  ideas,  and  have  sought  to  secure  their  arrest 
and  punishment.  This  was  undoubtedly  assisted  by  the  fact 
that  several  Armenians  in  this  country  made  addresses  in 
many  places,  in  which  they  used  the  bitterest  expressions 
of  hostility  to  the  Turkish  Government.  In  view  of  this, 
President  Cleveland,  in  an  annual  message,  gave  expression 
to  the  principle  that  no  government  can  force  the  presence 
of  its  own  subjects  upon  another  government,  and  that  the 
Turkish  Government  has  a  perfect  right  to  exclude  from  its 
territory  those  whom  it  deems  hostile  to  its  interests.  While 
undoubtedly  correct  as  a  general  principle,  it  was  incorrect  in 
view  of  the  treaties,  according  to  which  foreigners  have  the 
recognized  right  to  live  in  Turkey  and  pursue  their  business 
so  long  as  they  observe  the  laws  of  the  empire.  In  case  of 
transgression  of  those  laws,  they  are  to  be  tried  by  their  own 
Consular  authorities,  the  Turkish  courts  having  no  jurisdiction 
except  in  cases  of  real  estate  and  in  certain  matters  when  a 
Consular  officer  is  not  within  reach. 

At  present  the  most  serious  question  between  the  two 
countries  is  in  regard  to  the  right  of  domicile  of  American 
citizens.  The  American  missionaries  stand  as  the  sole  wit¬ 
nesses  accredited  before  the  world,  of  the  atrocities  committed 
by  the  Turkish  Government,  therefore  that  government  is 
putting  forth  its  best  efforts  to  secure  their  ejection  from  the 
country.  They  also  represent  the  progress  of  religious 
liberty  and  civilization,  both  of  which  are  opposed  by  Russia, 
who,  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  Turkey  shall  be  part 
of  her  own  empire,  and  dreading  the  results  of  American  col¬ 
leges  and  schools,  sympathizes  in  the  wish  of  Turkey  to 
eliminate  the  whole  influence  of  American  missions  from 
that  land.  Unfortunately,  working  in  harmony  with  these, 


550 


DECIDED  ACTION  NECESSARY. 


though  from  an  entirely  different  motive,  are  some  Americans, 
who  feel  that  there  is  no  advantage  in  the  missionaries  re¬ 
maining  there,  and  think  that  to  press  for  their  protection 
may  involve  this  country  in  complications  with  Europe. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  general  policy  of  this 
government  towards  foreign  nations.  It  may,  however,  be 
said  that  so  far  as  complications  with  Europe  are  concerned, 
there  need  be  no  fear  of  them.  There  is  no  need  of  more 
than  the  protection  of  American  citizens  in  their  right  to  stay 
in  a  country  where  they  have  clear  and  well  defined  treaty 
rights.  That  is  all  that  is  needed,  and  that  surely  no  Ameri¬ 
can  refuse.  If  the  question  be  asked,  how  that  protection  can 
be  assured,  the  answer  simply  is,  by  firm,  decided  pressure 
from  the  American  Government.  There  will  be  no  need  of 
war,  or  anything  approaching  it.  It  may  be  advantageous  to 
send  some  ships  to  the  Mediterranean  to  give  ocular  demon¬ 
stration  to  the  Turks  that  America  exists.  It  may  be  advan¬ 
tageous  to  do  at  Rhodes  or  Mitylene  what  England  did  at 
Corinto,  but  even  that  will  not  be  necessary.  Those  who 
have  had  dealings  with  the  Turkish  Government  know  well 
that  it  will  always  do  what  it  has  to.  There  is  no  need  of 
bullying,  but  there  must  be  decided  action. 

We  have  said  that  all  that  is  needed  is  the  protection  of 
American  citizens,  that  is,  so  far  as  the  executive  branch  of 
the  Government  can  go,  but  surely  the  people  may  go  farther. 
They  can  give  expression  to  their  protest  against  the  atrocities 
that  have  stirred  the  whole  world.  There  is  a  power  in  the 
voice  of  a  nation,  and  if  that  voice  is  uttered  in  clear,  unmis¬ 
takable  tones  from  every  city,  town  and  village  in  the  country; 
by  every  church,  society  and  organization  of  any  kind,  it  will 
have  its  effect.  The  Sultan  must  respect  the  repeated  protest 


NEED  OVERWHELMING. 


551 


of  Christendom.  But  that  is  not  all.  England,  Germany, 
France,  even  Russia,  will  not  refuse  to  heed  the  words  of 
America.  Along  with  this,  however,  should  go  prompt 
relief.  The  situation  is  appalling.  Not  a  tithe  of  the  awful 
story  can  be  told  in  these  pages.  We  have  told  enough, 
however,  to  make  it  clear  that  the  need  is  overwhelming. 
Let  associations  for  relief  be  formed  all  over  the  country. 
The  Rev.  Frederick  D.  Greene,  Secretary  of  the  National 
Armenian  Relief  Committee,  45  William  Street,  New  York 
City,  who  has  been  on  the  field  and  knows  the  situation 
thoroughly,  will  give  all  needed  information,  and  Brown 
Brothers,  the  great  bankers,  59  Wall  Street,  New  York  City, 
will  forward  all  funds  to  Americans  on  the  field.  Clara 
Barton  and  her  Red  Cross  associates  and  the  missionaries 
are  at  their  posts.  Great  efforts  are  being  made  to  force 
them  to  leave.  America  should  stand  behind  them  and  sup¬ 
port  them.  Humanity  and  duty  demand  it. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

General  Survey. 


Statistics  of  Massacre  and  Pillage— Where  Does  the  Responsibility  Rest  ?— The  Turks; 
Fear,  Ferocity,  Outrage — The  Armenians  ;  Ambition,  Lack  of  Preparation,  Unwisdom  of 
Huntchagists — l he  European  Powers;  Jealousy,  Ambition,  Cowardice — The  Sultan; 
Alliance  with  Reactionary  Party,  Difficult  Position,  Individual  Care  of  Minutise— 
Latest  Development  of  Most  Terrible  Persecution. 

ANY  complete  statement  as  to  number  of  victims  of  the 
massacres  is  at  present  impossible,  and  indeed,  will 
probably  never  be  made.  This  partly  for  the  same  reasons 
that  make  an  exact  census  impracticable,  partly  because  of 
the  general  scattering  of  the  people,  resulting  in  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  their  homes.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  com¬ 
paratively  few  people  even  in  this  country  can  be  relied  upon 
to  make  a  correct  estimate  as  to  numbers,  and  inaccuracy  in 
this  respect  is  even  more  characteristic  of  the  East.  When  to 
these  general  statements  is  added  the  terror  that  fell  upon  all, 
it  will  be  readily  apparent  that  exact  figures  are  unattainable, 
even  in  regard  to  places  where  there  were  intelligent  observ¬ 
ers.  But  absolutely  no  account  can  be  taken  of  the  number 
killed  in  the  villages  remote  from  the  cities.  The  following 
table  has  been  made  up  from  the  best  returns  available,  and 
in  all  probability  represents  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  places 
noted,  which  are  all  well  known.  The  figures  in  regard 

(552) 


STATISTICS  OF  MASSACRES. 


553 


to  the  interior  cities  include  also  the  figures  for  the  villages  in 
the  immediate  vicinity,  but  not  those  for  the  remote  sections. 
Some  of  them  were  quite  large  districts.  Thus,  Van  city 
has  not  suffered,  but  the  villages  suffered  terribly.  Massacres 
were  also  reported  from  a  large  number  of  places,  such  as 
Tokat,  Amasia,  Gemerek,  Adiaman,  Argana,  Severek,  etc., 
but  no  reliable  statistics,  or  even  estimates,  were  furnished. 


Constantinople . Sept.  30,  1895,  172 

Trebizond . Oct.  8,  “  1,100 

Ak-Hissar .  “  9>  “  45 

Gumushkhane .  “  n*  “  35° 

Baiburt .  “  13*  “  800 

Erzingan .  “21,  “  1,900 

Bitlis .  .  “25,  “  1,500 

Palu .  “  25,  “  650 

Diarbekir .  “  25,  “  3,000 

Kara  Hissar .  “  25,  “  800 

Erzrum .  “  30,  “  1,200 

"^oulanik  and  Khnus .  “  30,  “  700 

Urfa . Oct.  27  and  Dec.  30,  “  6,000 

Malatia . Nov.  6,  “  5,000 

Arabkir .  “  6,  “  4,000 

Harput.  .  “  11,  “  1,900 

Sivas .  “  12,  “  1,300 

Gurun .  “  10,  “  2,000 

Mush .  “  15,  “  34° 

Marsovan .  “  15,  “  125 

Aintab .  “  15,  “  4°° 

Marash .  “  18,  “  1,000 

Zill6 . .. .  “  26,  “  200 

Cesarea . “  30,  “  350 

Birejik .  Jan.  I,  1896,  200 


Total .  •  ‘35>°32 


Taking  this  sum,  35,000,  as  a  basis,  those  who  are  on  the 
field  and  best  qualified  to  judge  make  a  general  estimate  of 
the  entire  loss  of  life  at  not  less  than  50,000,  and  this  has 


554 


A  CONSERVATIVE  ESTIMATE. 


the  endorsement  of  the  English  and  French  Ambassadors  at 
Constantinople.  This,  however,  is  by  no  means  all  that  is  to 
be  taken  into  account.  There  is  the  number  of  those  who 
have  been  forced,  sometimes  on  pain  of  death,  sometimes  on 
pain  of  outrage  and  suffering  worse  than  death,  to  accept 
Mohammedanism.  As  to  those,  reports  vary,  but  a  conserva¬ 
tive  estimate  puts  the  whole  number  at  about  40,000.  Ref¬ 
erence  must  also  be  made  to  the  destruction  of  houses  and 
shops.  With  regard  to  these,  estimates  are  more  easily 
made  and  the  sum  total  given  of  12,600  burned  and  47,000 
plundered,  is  probably  reasonably  correct.  There  remains 
to  be  considered  the  number  of  destitute.  This  can  only  be 
estimated  something  as  follows.  If  the  number  of  killed  was 
40,000,  inasmuch  as  they  were  almost  entirely  men  who 
would  each  represent  a  family  of  at  least  five  persons,  this 
would  give  200,000.  Add  to  this  those  who  were  dependent 
upon  the  murdered  men  for  employment,  those  whose  shops 
and  houses  were  burned  and  those  who  were  imprisoned,  and 
the  estimate  of  350,000  to  500,000  it  will  be  easily  seen  is 
not  unreasonable.  It  is  evident  that  statistics  as  to  the  num¬ 
ber  of  women  and  girls  outraged  are  absolutely  unattainable. 
We  may  then,  in  the  most  conservative  way,  summarize  the 
whole  as  follows : 


Number  of  persons  killed  (almost  entirely  men) .  50,000 

“  “  houses  and  shops  burned .  12,600 

“  “  “  “  “  plundered .  47,000 

“  “  persons  forced  to  accept  Mohammedanism.  40,000 

“  “  persons  destitute . 400,000 


These  figures  are  certainly  within  the  truth,  and  it  requires 
but  little  effort  to  imagine  what  they  mean. 

The  question  is  forced  upon  the  mind,  Where  does  the 


RESPONSIBILITY. 


555 


responsibility  for  all  this  loss  of  life  and  property,  this  terri¬ 
ble  suffering,  rest  ?  The  answer  is  by  no  means  simple, 
though  its  general  features  will  be  easily  recognized  by  those 
who  have  read  the  preceding  chapters  carefully.  The  present 
situation  is  the  result  of  the  mutual  action  of  four  chief 
factors,  some  of  them  having  various  subdivisions.  The 
Turks,  the  Armenians,  the  European  Powers  and  the  Sultan. 
We  will  take  up  each  one  of  these  in  turn  and  state  as 
clearly  as  may  be,  in  what  is  necessarily  brief  space,  the  re¬ 
lations  sustained  by  them  to  the  others  and  to  the  general 
result. 

The  Turks.  The  feeling  among  the  Turks  is  very  easily 
understood.  For  half  a  century  they  have  seen  the  general 
situation  of  the  Christians  steadily  improving,  and  their  own 
situation,  if  not  actually  growing  worse,  at  least  not  improv¬ 
ing  in  equal  degree.  They  have  been  taught  by  their  priests 
to  look  upon  the  Christians  as  “  dogs,”  utterly  unworthy  of 
any  regard.  True,  under  force  of  circumstances,  and  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  certain  natural  characteristics  they  have  not 
always  treated  them  as  “dogs,”  still  the  belief  has  been 
there,  and  only  needed  the  occasion  of  some  kind  to  call  it 
into  exercise.  They  could  not  see  the  slightest  necessity  of 
any  reforms  for  those  whom  they  looked  upon  as  slaves, 
and  the  repeated  statements  issued  by  the  Sultans,  and  the 
Constitutions  and  Charters,  of  equal  rights  and  religious 
liberty,  seemed  to  them  treason  to  their  religion  and  their 
empire.  They  also  realized  that  the  time  of  their  advance 
had  ceased.  One  after  another  their  choicest  provinces  were 
taken  from  them,  in  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa.  The  more 
intelligent  among  them  began  to  think  that  there  was  some 
power  in  the  world  besides  their  Padishah.  The  names  of 


556 


TURKISH  COMMUNITY  AROUSED. 


Bismarck,  Gladstone,  Gortschakoff,  Andrassy,  not  to  speak  of 
the  Emperors,  were  heard  all  over  the  land  and  occasioned 
much  uneasiness.  Turks  returned  to  their  country  homes 
from  Constantinople  with  stories  of  the  grandeur  of  the  for¬ 
eign  ambassadors  and  the  honors  paid  them  by  Turkish  dig¬ 
nitaries,  even  by  the  Sultan.  There  thus  developed  an  in¬ 
creasing  fear  among  the  whole  Moslem  population  for  every¬ 
thing  and  everybody  that  was  Christian.  This  was  taken 
advantage  of  by  shrewd  Moslem  priests  and  plotters,  who 
carefully  spread  the  report  that  the  time  might  be  near  when 
Islam  would  have  to  defend  itself,  and  talk  of  the  Jehad,  or 
Holy  War,  began  to  be  heard.  When  the  placards  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  were  scattered  broadcast  through¬ 
out  Asia  Minor,  the  whole  Turkish  community  was  aroused. 
In  an  ignorant  community  news  travels  exceptionally  fast  and 
loses  nothing  as  it  goes.  It  was  not  long  before  everywhere, 
in  the  Turkish  villages  and  even  in  the  Turkish  quarters  of 
the  cities,  there  was  general  fear  of  an  uprising  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians,  probably  to  be  supported  by  the  European  Govern¬ 
ments.  It  was  absurd,  for  not  one  Christian  in  a  hundred, 
scarcely  one  in  a  thousand,  had  a  weapon,  while  comparatively 
few  Turks  were  unarmed.  It  is  also  true  that  this  condition 
existed  only  in  a  limited  section  of  the  country.  The  greater 
part  of  the  Moslem  population,  Turkish,  Kurdish,  Circassian, 
etc.,  had  absolutely  no  sense  of  fear.  Still  its  existence  in 
some  places  served  the  purpose  of  the  leaders,  a  purpose 
that  will  be  stated  later  on,  and  helped  to  swell  the  tide  of 
anti-Christian  feeling  which  was  growing  on  every  side.  The 
outbreak  in  Sassun  served  two  purposes.  It  whetted  the 
appetite  for  plunder  and  also  showed  that  that  appetite  could 
be  gratified  with  no  evil  results  to  the  plunderers.  The  fact 


OUTRAGEOUS  CRUELTY. 


557 


that  no  one  was  punished  and  that  the  leaders  were  re¬ 
warded,  was  well  known  throughout  the  empire.  Longing 
eyes  were  cast  upon  Christian  shops  and  houses  and  upon 
Christian  women,  and  threatening  glances  turned  upon  the 
owners  of  the  former  and  the  protectors  of  the  latter.  If 
they  could  be  got  rid  of  safely,  property  and  sex  could  be 
appropriated  without  danger. 

The  massacre  at  Trebizond,  following  on  that  at  Constanti¬ 
nople,  lighted  the  torch,  and  for  three  months  the  Moslem 
fury,  held  in  comparative  check  ever  since  the  capture  of 
Constantinople,  had  full  scope.  There  had  indeed  been  mas¬ 
sacres,  at  Scio,  in  the  Lebanon,  in  Kurdistan,  but  never  was 
such  free  rein  given  to  the  most  outrageous  cruelty.  It  is 
well  known  that  passions  grow  on  what  they  feed  on. 
Ingrained  in  the  Turkish  character,  with  some  noble  elements, 
exist  also  some  of  the  vilest.  Absolute  freedom  for  the  vile 
simply  overwhelmed  the  noble.  The  fury  of  the  early  cen¬ 
turies  of  Moslem  advance  broke  forth,  with  the  added  feroc¬ 
ity  gathered  by  its  period  of  restraint  and  the  fear  lest  its 
last  opportunity  had  come.  It  must  be  said  that  many  Turks 
have  protested  against  this  whole  matter,  feeling  it  an  out¬ 
rage  on  humanity  and  a  most  impolitic  thing,  but  their  pro¬ 
test  has  been  as  nothing.  They  have  succored  a  few  individ¬ 
uals,  but  that  is  all.  The  great  mass  have  joined  heart  and 
soul  in  murder,  pillage  and  outrage.  This  motive  has 
undoubtedly  been  mixed.  Political  fear,  religious  fanaticism, 
lust  for  booty,  have  all  entered  in  varying  proportions  in  dif¬ 
ferent  places. 

The  Armenians.  It  is  frequently  said  that  the  Huntchagist 
movement  is  largely  responsible  for  the  atrocities,  at  least  as 
furnishing  the  pretext  for  the  charges  of  revolution  made  by 


558 


TURKISH  OPPRESSION. 


the  Turkish  Government.  How  much  of  truth  there  is  in 
this,  it  is  very  difficult  to  say.  It  is  undoubted  fact  that  in 
certain  sections,  notably  Central  Asia  Minor,  that  movement 
operated  very  strongly  to  arouse  the  bitterest  feeling  on  the 
part  of  the  Turks.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  also  undoubted 
fact,  that  in  not  one  single  instance  can  it  be  fairly  said  that 
the  great  massacres,  as  at  Erzrum,  Harput,  Diarbekir,  etc., 
had  any  excuse  in  the  presence  of  Armenian  revolution. 
Granted,  however,  that  the  Huntchagist  movement  did  harm, 
and  it  certainly  did,  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  was  an 
almost  inevitable  development.  The  Armenian  nation  was 
growing  in  intellectual  and  moral  power.  The  heavy  yoke 
of  Turkish  oppression  was  becoming  more  and  more  galling. 
The  young  men  of  the  nation  had  before  their  eyes  freed 
Bulgaria,  freed  Servia,  freed  Rumania,  freed  Greece.  They 
had  not  read  unmoved  their  early  national  history,  and  the 
stories  of  the  revolutions  of  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  centuries.  It  was  most  natural 
that  they  should  arise  in  determination  to  make  a  break  for 
freedom,  or  at  least  for  an  improvement  of  their  condition. 
Europe  had  made  Bulgaria,  why  should  it  not  make  Armenia? 
This  was  fostered  by  Russian  intrigue,  just  to  what  extent 
will  only  be  known  later,  if  at  all,  but  certainly  to  some 
extent.  It  was  foolish  undoubtedly,  for  the  circumstances 
were  very  different.  Armenia  as  a  territory  had  no  existence. 
It  was  scarcely  more  than  a  historical  name.  Boundaries 
might  be  drawn,  but  to  make  the  enclosed  space  an  Armenia 
would  require  the  importation  of  Armenians  and  the  depor¬ 
tation  of  Kurds  to  an  extent  almost  inconceivable.  More¬ 
over,  the  nation  at  large  was  not  ready  for  the  movement.  It 
was  not  unified  in  purpose  any  more  than  it  was  concentrated 


RELATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENTS. 


559 


fn  location.  The  plans  of  the  Huntchagists  were  absurd ; 
their  threats  issued  not  merely  against  Turks,  but  against 
their  own  people  and  friends  who  would  not  work  with  them, 
were  criminal.  The  great  mass  of  the  people,  however,  had 
no  part  nor  lot  in  those  plans  or  threats,  and  the  charges  of 
sedition  are  even  more  outrageous  and  criminal  than  their 
own  worst  acts.  The  question  is  often  asked  why  the 
Armenians  were  singled  out,  and  why  the  Greeks  were  left 
unmolested.  The  answer  is  :  (i)  that  for  the  time  being  the 
Turks  realized  that  the  Armenian  movement  was  the  more 
dangerous ;  (2)  that  there  was  no  danger  of  the  Greeks 
joining  them  on  account  of  the  traditional,  racial  and 
ecclesiastical  hatred  between  the  two  races,  and  their  subjuga¬ 
tion  might  be  left  to  some  other  time  ;  (3)  that  while  the 
Greeks  had  a  well  recognized  protector  in  the  Czar  and  his 
powerful  government,  the  Armenians  relied  upon  England, 
which  was  always  a  negligeable  quantity.  The  Greeks  also 
have  as  a  rule  been  far  more  politic  in  their  dealings  with 
the  Turks,  less  apt  to  rouse  antagonisms  than  the  Armenians. 
The  Armenians  thus,  while  undoubtedly  making  mistakes, 
and  serious  ones,  were  almost  the  sole  victims  because  they 
furnished  the  most  available  field  for  pillage. 

The  European  Powers.  The  relation  of  the  governments  of 
Europe,  in  which  are  included  England,  Russia,  France,  Ger¬ 
many,  Austria  and  Italy,  to  the  subject  of  partition  of  the  em¬ 
pire  has  been  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter.  It  remains  here 
simply  to  note  their  relation  to  the  massacres.  How  far  were 
they  responsible  for  them  ?  Could  they  have  prevented  them, 
and  if  they  could,  why  did  they  not  ?  The  contemporary 
observer  of  political  history  is  very  apt  to  greatly  misappre¬ 
hend  a  particular  situation,  especially  if  it  be  somewhat  com- 
33 


5<5o 


NEGOTIATIONS  CONTINUE. 


plex.  Time  is  a  most  important  element  in  correct  judgment  on 
such  matters.  Certain  things,  however,  are  clear.  The  Powers 
might,  if  they  had  taken  the  right  steps,  have  prevented  the 
massacres,  at  least  those  of  1895.  The  Turkish  Government, 
especially  of  late  years,  has  always  yielded  to  the  inevitable. 
The  course  adopted  has  generally  been  as  follows  :  A  demand 
on  the  part  of  the  Powers  is  followed  by  a  general  protest  on 
the  part  of  the  Porte,  which,  however,  promises  to  take  the 
matter  into  careful  consideration  ;  then  comes  a  counter-pro¬ 
posal  which  either  absolutely  neutralizes  the  demand  or 
materially  modifies  it,  according  to  what  seems  to  the  Cabinet 
practicable :  this  is  rejected  and  the  demand  is  reiterated  ; 
with  many  protestations  it  is  received,  considered,  and  a  new 
counter-proposal  presented,  to  be  again  rejected  by  the  Am¬ 
bassadors.  How  long  this  continues  depends  upon  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  ;  sometimes  it  covers  months,  rarely  a  few  weeks. 
At  last  the  demand  of  the  Powers  is  presented  as  an  ultima¬ 
tum.  To  this  comes  a  flat  refusal.  The  Sultan  appears 
upon  the  scene  and  declines  to  accept  of  any  abridgment  of 
his  sovereign  rights.  The  negotiations  continue  but  on  a 

o  o  O 

slightly  different  basis.  After  there  has  been  time  to  have  the 
Sultan’s  refusal  reported  over  the  empire,  there  is  a  change 
of  ministry,  the  new  regime  is  instructed  to  accept  the  demand 
and  Europe  has  gained  its  point,  at  least  in  appearance,  while 
over  the  empire  the  Sultan  has  the  reputation  of  having 
thwarted  the  sovereigns  of  Europe. 

To  accomplish  this,  however,  it  is  absolutely  essential  that 
there  be  united,  unintermitted  pressure  on  the  part  of  the 
Powers  interested.  Any  divergence  between  them  of  feeling 
or  judgment  will  be  quickly  seen  and  used  by  the  astute 
Turkish  politicians,  who  are  wonderfully  skilful  in  fomenting 


CONSTANT  AGITATION. 


561 


jealousies  and  in  creating'  disturbance  generally.  The  recent 
diplomatic  history,  so  far  at  it  relates  to  the  massacres,  may 
be  briefly  summarized  as  follows :  The  Treaty  of  Berlin  and 
the  Cyprus  Convention  placed  England  in  the  lead  in  dip¬ 
lomatic  influence  in  Constantinople.  That  lead,  however, 
was  soon  lost  largely  through  the  Egyptian  question.  Russia 
was  busy  with  other  matters,  internal  and  Central  Asian,  but 
kept  up  a  constant  intrigue  not  merely  in  Constantinople,  but 
throughout  the  empire,  seeking  to  repair  the  damage  done 
to  the  I  reaty  of  San  Stephano,  especially  to  regain  her  hold 
upon  Bulgaria.  Austria  was  occupied  with  the  Czechs  and 
Magyars,  and  gave  her  outside  attention  chiefly  to  strength¬ 
ening  her  hold  upon  Bosnia,  but  found  time  to  see  that  Servia 
did  not  become  Russianized.  France  kept  a  jealous  eye  upon 
Egypt  and  to  that  purpose  watched  also  the  English  move¬ 
ments  at  Constantinople,  offering  little  hindrance,  but  refusing 
positive  help.  Italy  had  her  hands  full  with  her  national 
development,  as  also  had  Germany,  each  being  chiefly  anxious 
to  keep  the  peace  in  general  without  giving  prestige  to  any 
one  of  her  rivals.  Bismarck’s  famous  dictum,  “The  whole 
Bulgarian  nation  is  not  worth  the  bones  of  a  single  Pomera¬ 
nian  grenadier,”  expressed  the  general  feeling  of  all  Europe 
except  England,  and  that  England  shared  in  it  to  some  extent 
is  evident  from  the  fast-and-loose  policy  she  pursued  during 
the  greater  part  of  Abd-ul-Hamid’s  reign. 

The  constant  agitation  of  the  Armenians,  however,  had  its 
effect,  and  certain  prominent  Englishmen,  notably  Mr.  James 
Bryce,  exerted  considerable  influence  upon  the  government 
to  push  the  question  of  reforms.  Mr.  Gladstone  also,  who 
had  retired  from  office,  joined  heartily  in  the  movement, 
speaking  and  writing  in  favor  of  it.  This  pressure  the 


562 


TROUBLE  IN  SASSUN. 


English  Government  transferred  to  Constantinople,  and 
secured  a  general  endorsement  from  Russia  and  France; 
Germany,  Austria  and  Italy  holding  aloof  from  positive  action, 
leaving  matters  to  the  other  three  Powers  as  the  ones  most 
immediately  concerned.  While  the  general  discussion  was 
going  on,  the  trouble  in  Sassun  broke  out,  and  all  Europe  saw 
that  there  might  easily  be  very  serious  results.  Were  there 
to  be  general  revolution  and  massacre,  intervention  might  be 
forced  upon  them,  with  a  renewal  of  the  former  war,  except 
that  now  it  would  scarcely  be  possible  to  localize  the  trouble. 
Military  occupation  might  be  necessary,  and  what  would 
result  from  that  no  one  could  tell.  War  was  the  last  thine 

o 

any  government  wanted,  therefore,  for  once,  Russia  and 
France  joined  heartily  with  England,  and  the  other  Powers 
gave  moral  support.  The  plan  of  reforms  was  prepared,  and 
the  usual  procedure,  described  above,  commenced.  After  a 
time,  however,  the  zeal  of  Russia  and  France  grew  cool ;  diffi¬ 
culties  were  raised  and  modifications  suggested.  United 
action  ceased  and  the  quick  eye  of  the  Turk  saw  the  oppor¬ 
tunity,  and  he  did  his  best  to  foster  distrust  of  England. 
Meanwhile  the  situation  was  growing  worse  on  every  hand. 
Constantinople  was  in  turmoil,  which  resulted  in  the  massacre 
of  September  30th.  Then  all  united  in  strong  pressure,  and 
the  scheme  of  reforms  was  signed,  only  to  be  attended  by  the 
massacre  at  Trebizond,  followed  by  bloodshed  and  pillage  all 
over  the  empire.  The  Ambassadors  were  apparently  uncer¬ 
tain  what  to  do.  The  Sultan,  in  abject  terror — to  all  appear¬ 
ances — told  them  that  he  was  powerless;  that  to  give  reforms 
to  Christians  meant  the  uprising  of  the  Moslem  people,  and 
he  was  helpless.  England  indignantly  repudiated  his  claim, 
it  is  said,  raised  the  question  of  his  deposition,  and  sent  her 


THE  KEY  TO  THE  SITUATION. 


563 


fleet  to  the  Dardanelles.  Russia  and  France,  however,  would 
not  support  England,  and  Emperor  William  of  Germany 
entered  the  lists  in  favor  of  the  Sultan,  claiming  that  he 
meant  well ;  all  he  wanted  was  a  little  time.  The  result  was 
absolute  collapse  of  any  modifying  influence  upon  the  Sultan, 
and  the  Turks  were  free  to  do  as  they  liked. 

A  o-entlemen  well  versed  in  Oriental  matters  has  said  that, 
in  his  judgment,  England  held  the  key  to  the  situation  in 
June,  and,  by  forcing  the  Dardanelles  with  her  fleet,  could 
have  prevented  the  massacres,  and  at  the  same  time  have 
avoided  a  European  war;  also,  that  even  in  October  or 
November,  had  she  acted  positively  and  aggressively,  Russia 
and  France  would  have  been  forced  to  accept  her  action. 
Lord  Salisbury,  however,  has  stated  that  this  was  impossible ; 
that  Russia  asserted  positively  that  the  entrance  of  the  fleet 
would  mean  war. 

It  is  evident  that  responsibility  for  the  massacres  rests 
largely  upon  the  European  Powers.  Upon  England  for  her 
delay  in  enforcing  the  stipulations  of  the  Cyprus  Convention 
— and  perhaps  for  her  cowardice  at  the  close,  in  refusing  to 
act  alone,  and  run  the  risk  of  war.  Upon  Russia  for  her 
absolute  refusal  to  support  England,  and  probably  for  her 
encouragement  of  the  intrigues  among  the  Armenians  to  stir 
revolutionary  sentiment,  and  with  the  Turkish  Government 
to  gain  her  end  of  dominant  influence ;  upon  France  for  her 
alliance  with  Russia  in  her  course ;  upon  Germany  for  the 
Emperor’s  refusal  to  support  the  cause  of  justice  and  right. 
Austria  and  Italy  can  scarcely  be  blamed,  as  they  were  not  in 
position  to  antagonize  Russia,  France  and  Germany;  their 
sympathy  was  unquestionably  with  England.  Why  were  all 
so  unwilling  to  act?  Primarily,  because  each  feared  damage 


564 


PERSONALITY  OF  THE  SULTAN. 


to  her  own  interests ;  secondly,  because  no  one  except  Eng¬ 
land  had  the  slightest  interest  in  the  Armenians.  The 
worst  stories  of  the  massacres  have  never  moved  the  heart  of 
Europe.  Even  the  support  given  at  one  time  by  France  and 
Russia  was  not  from  desire  to  help  the  oppressed,  but  to 
watch  England  and  see  that  she  did  not  get  too  much  advan¬ 
tage  to  herself.  Humanity  availed  not  a  jot  with  either. 

The  Sultan .  Probably  over  no  one  factor  in  this  whole 
problem  has  there  been  so  much  discussion  as  over  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  of  Sultan  Abd-ul- Hamid  II.  On  the  one  hand, 
those  who  have  had  personal  intercourse  with  him,  laud  his 
mildness  and  benignity,  and  affirm  that  it  is  utterly  impossible 
that  he  should  have  had  any  share  in  the  immediate  execution 
of  such  atrocious  outrages.  On  the  other  hand,  many  who 
know  the  empire  thoroughly,  and  understand  how  completely 
the  personality  of  the  Sultan,  if  he  is  a  man  of  marked  indi¬ 
viduality,  dominates  every  part  of  his  government,  even  to 
the  remote  provinces,  claim  that  it  is  simply  impossible  that 
the  atrocities  should  have  occurred  without  his  knowledge 
and  that  he  must  either  have  ordered  them  or  have  permitted 
them. 

As  has  already  been  said,  the  Sultan  has  been  in  a  very 
difficult  position.  When  he  ascended  the  throne,  or  to  speak 
more  correctly,  was  girded  with  the  sword  of  Osman,  he  found 
himself  surrounded  by  a  number  of  forces.  There  was  the 
old  orthodox  Moslem  element,  constituting  by  far  the  great 
majority  of  his  Turkish  subjects,  utterly  disapproving  of  the 
changes  of  the  past  three  reigns,  and  calling  for  a  return  to 
traditional  Moslem  customs ;  there  was  the  Young  Turkey 
Party,  not  so  large  in  numbers,  but  clamorous  that  the  advance 
made  should  not  merely  be  preserved,  but  increased;  there 


A  COURSE  OF  RESTRICTION. 


565 


was  also  the  great  outside  Moslem  world,  jealous  of  the  Tar¬ 
tar  usurpation  of  the  Caliphate,  and  ready  to  join  hands  in 
any  effort  that  promised  success  for  restoring  the  honor  to 
the  tribe  of  Koreish ;  there  were  the  Armenians,  calling  for 
Europe  to  make  them  independent  of  Turkish  rule ;  there 
was  Europe  watching  to  see  that  he  helped  one  power  no 
more  than  another,  and  anxious  lest  his  internal  troubles 
affect  the  adjoining  empires.  His  various  efforts  have 
already  been  set  forth  in  detail.  Hence  it  is  only  necessary 
to  say  that,  from  the  time  of  the  dismissal  of  Haireddin  Pasha, 
he  apparently  gave  up  all  idea  of  progress  and  allied  himself 
more  and  more  with  the  reactionary  party,  identifying  himself 
with  the  effort  to  restore  the  historic  austerity  and  vigor  of 
Islam.  A  systematic  course  of  restriction  of  Christian  priv¬ 
ileges  was  commenced,  with  the  result  set  forth  in  Chapter  XIX, 
on  the  Condition  of  the  Empire  in  1894.  There  was  thus  very 
apparent  an  absolute  reversal  of  the  policy  inaugurated  by 
his  grandfather,  endorsed  by  his  father,  and  allowed  by  his 
uncle.  Instead  of  seeking  out  for  use  the  best  available  men 
for  the  general  welfare  of  the  empire,  he  gave  prominence  to 
those  who  would  emphasize  the  Moslem  interest  at  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  everything  else.  The  natural  result  was  that 
favoritism  and  incompetence,  bribery  and  extortion  reigned. 
The  industrial,  commercial  and  financial  condition  of  the 
empire  rapidly  deteriorated.  Coincident  with  this  was  in¬ 
creased  complaint  on  the  part  of  everybody.  Orthodox  Mos¬ 
lems,  the  Young  Turkey  element,  Armenians,  Europeans,  all 
were  dissatisfied,  all  laid  the  blame  at  the  doors  of  the  £Ov- 
ernment,  and  for  them  the  government  meant  the  Sultan.  If 
this  appears  unjust,  it  must  be  said  that,  with  the  possible  ex¬ 
ception  of  Mahmud  II,  no  Sultan  has  ever  held  such  minute 


566 


A  GENERAL  CRUSADE. 


control  over  the  internal  administration  of  his  government  as 
has  Abd-ul-Hamid  II.  Not  merely  the  appointment  of  the 
most  minor  officials,  but  the  granting  of  the  most  insignifi¬ 
cant  permits  are  subject  to  his  approval.  He  is  a  man  of 
marvelous  industry  and  great  ability,  and  nothing  in  his  em¬ 
pire,  and  comparatively  little  outside  of  it,  escapes  his  notice. 
It  soon  became  evident  that  a  crisis  was  approaching.  The 
pressure  from  Europe  for  reforms  and  the  pressure  from 
Turkey  against  reforms  were  increasing.  If  he  yielded  to  the 
former  he  endangered  his  Caliphate,  if  to  the  latter,  his  empire. 

Somewhere,  or  to  some  one,  the  suggestion  was  apparently 
made  that  the  dilemma  might  be  avoided  if  the  reforms 
were  granted,  but  rendered  of  no  practical  effect  by  reducing 
the  proportion  of  Armenians  to  Turks  and  consequent 
representation  in  the  government.  Whether  this  was  formu¬ 
lated  before  the  Sassun  massacre  is  doubtful.  The  ex¬ 
perience  in  connection  with  that  probably  gave  substance  to 
the  idea  that  Moslem  fanaticism  might  be  utilized  in  the  form 
of  a  general  crusade  against  the  Armenians  in  defense  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire  and  Mohammedanism.  At  any  rate  that  is 
just  what  was  done.  The  impulse  was  given  under  govern¬ 
ment  direction  and  aid  was  furnished  by  government  troops. 
Once  started,  the  conflagration  spread.  At  first  it  was  prob- 
bably  intended  merely  to  cover  the  six  provinces  specially 
mentioned  in  the  scheme  of  reforms.  This,  however,  proved 
impracticable.  The  Turks  and  Kurds  of  Cesarea,  Aintab, 
Marash,  etc.,  were  not  disposed  to  stay  quiet  while  those  of 
Harput,  Diarbekir,  Erzrum  and  Bitlis  were  gorging  them¬ 
selves  with  Christian  booty  and  enriching  their  harems  with 
Christian  women.  They  demanded  their  share  and,  willingly 
or  unwillingly,  the  government  yielded.  In  Mesopotamia*  it 


ADDITIONAL  STATEMENTS. 


567 

succeeded  in  keeping  the  peace  in  good  measure  and  so  far 
outbreaks  in  Western  Asia  Minor  have  been  avoided,  but 
that  was  due  probably  chiefly  to  the  different  character  of  the 
Moslem  populace  or  the  preponderance  of  the  Greeks,  whom, 

being  under  the  protection  of  the  Czar,  even  the  Turks  dared 
not  touch. 

Whether  the  Sultan  directly  advised  the  massacres  in  the 
different  cities,  is  immaterial.  These  facts  stand  out  clear 
and  unmistakable  :  The  massacres  occurred  ;  it  was  the  re¬ 
peated  statement  of  Turkish  officials  and  citizens  that  they 
were  ordered  from  Constantinople;  there  was  absolutely  no 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  government,  except  in  some  cases  as 
noted  above,  to  prevent  them  ;  they  were  stopped  in  every 
case  when  in  the  judgment  of  the  officials  they  had  gone  far 
enough  ,  the  most  ardent  admirers  of  the  Sultan  have  claimed 
for  him  the  most  minute  supervision  of  his  empire.  The 
reader  can  draw  his  own  conclusions. 

As  this  closing  chapter  is  written  there  come  in  additional 
statements  of  the  suffering  throughout  the  empire.  Massacre 
has  been  followed  by  persistent  persecution,  less  prominent, 
perhaps,  but  not  less  effective.  Appeals  have  come  from 
one  section  of  the  country  to  stir  the  interest  of  the  Christian 
nations,  but  we  can  scarcely  do  better  than  to  close  with  the 
following  letter  from  one  of  the  largest  cities  in  the  empire: 

As  to  the  whole  circle  of  Christian  nations  that  are  stand¬ 
ing  as  idle  spectators  of  these  infernal  orgies,  I  wonder  if  they 
have  looked  upon  the  Gorgon’s  head,  or  do  they  not  yet  com¬ 
prehend  what  is  being  done  before  their  eyes  ?  Do  they  know 
that  horrible  and  revolting  as  was  the  savagery  of  the  recent 
massacres,  they  have  been  narrow  in  effect  and  tame  in 
cruel  barbarity  compared  with  the  deliberate,  malicious  and 


563 


A  STROKE  OF  BUSINESS. 


unrelenting,  crushing  and  grinding  process  to  which  the  rem¬ 
nant  of  the  Armenian  people  are  being  subjected?  Do  these 
Christian  Powers  comprehend  that  it  is  the  settled  purpose  of 
this  government  to  prevent  these  poor  people  from  being 
properly  clothed  and  fed,  and  so  to  make  famine  and  pesti¬ 
lence  their  executioners  in  place  of  the  assassins  heretofore 
employed  ?  It  is  a  sharp  stroke  of  business  on  the  part  of 
the  Turk  to  suspend  his  work  of  butchery  for  a  time,  and 
allow  his  victims,  by  their  unspeakable  wretchedness,  to  draw 
a  few  thousand  pounds  from  the  charitable  people  of  England 
and  America,  while  he  looks  on  complacently,  sure  of  so  much 
more  plunder  whenever  it  pleases  him  to  finish  his  bloody 

work?  In -  12,000  Christians,  after  having  more  than 

800  of  their  shops  and  450  of  their  houses  looted,  and  more 
than  $500,000  worth  of  property  stolen  or  destroyed,  have 
been  kept  for  over  three  months  in  daily  and  agonizing  terror 
tor  their  lives,  and  utterly  unable  to  do  anything  to  earn  a 
livelihood ;  4,000  of  their  number  are  wholly  dependent 
on  charity  for  daily  bread.  In  this  condition  government 
has  repeatedly  demanded  of  them  large  sums  of  money  for 
special  purposes,  and  these  demands  have  been  accompanied 
with  foul  abuse  and  the  most  ferocious  threats.  Do  the 
Christian  Powers  understand  the  purpose  of  the  plan  every¬ 
where  being  carried  out  of  removing  first  the  principal  men 

from  each  Christian  community  ?  In - sixty-four  of  the 

most  influential  and  wealthy  Christians  are  now  languishing 
in  Turkish  prisons,  arrested  on  purely  fictitious  charges. 

The  Protestant  preacher  of  - has  been  condemned  to 

ten  years  in  a  Turkish  fortress  simply  for  having  in  his  pos¬ 
session  a  copy  of  Lord  Salisbury’s  speech  at  the  opening  of 
Parliament.  Are  the  Christian  Powers  aware  that,  in  these 


SPECIMENS  OF  FACTS. 


5^9 


prisons,  deeds  rivalling  the  worst  barbarities  of  the  dark  ages 
are  being  enacted?  Overcrowded  dungeons,  unfit  for  men 
to  stay  in,  the  most  violent  and  offensive  insults,  beatings  and 
torture  till  the  victim  faints,  are  not  uncommon ;  live  coals 
put  upon  the  naked  bodies  of  men,  sodomy  forced  upon  an 
Armenian  priest,  are  among  the  amusements  in  which  Turkish 
jailers  have  been  freely  indulging.  These  are  only  specimens 
of  classes  of  facts  of  which  I  have  the  most  unimpeachable 
evidence ;  and  what  is  more,  these  things  are  part  of  a  plan 
which  is  being  carried  out  in  the  end  of  this  nineteenth  cen¬ 
tury  by  a  government  in  treaty  with  Christian  nations,  and 
under  the  most  solemn  pledges  and  obligations  to  secure 
special  privileges  to  its  Christian  subjects.” 

“  Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind  exceeding  small ; 

Though  with  patience  He  stands  waiting,  with  exactness  grinds  He  all.” 


t 


/ 


INDEX 


Abd-ul-Aziz,  246,  233,  277,  282,  286 
Abd-ul-Hamid  II,  118,  228,  253,  282,  301, 
324>  564 

Abd-ul-Medjid,  117,  222,  246,  268,  347 

Abyssinians,  159 

Adana,  122,  386 

Adiaman,  487 

Adrianople,  Treaty  of,  217 

Aintab,  122,  402,  448,  451,  476 

Aintab  College,  317 

Ak-Hissar,  477 

Albania,  233,  388,  529 

Albanians,  170 

Albistan,  487 

Aleppo,  148,  447 

Ali  Pasha,  of  Janina,  182,  211,  215 
American  Ambassadors,  543 
American  Bible  Society,  319 
American  Board  of  Missions,  163,  313 
American  Consuls,  547 
American  Missionaries,  41,  115,  268,  278, 
342,  388,  511 
Anatolia  College,  339 
Andrassy  Note,  253 
•  Angora,  349 
Antioch,  447 
Arabia,  318,  392 

Arabic  Version  of  the  Scriptures,  317 

Arabi  Pasha,  327 

Arabkir,  435,  488 

Arabs,  98 

Ararat,  23 

Armenia,  117,  369,  558 
Armenian  Americans,  341,  548 
Armenian  Autonomy,  333 
Armenian  Patriarch,  400 
Armenian  Question,  330 
Armenian  Revolutionists.  See  Huntcha- 
gists. 


Armenians,  108,  166,  220,  293,  532,  557 
Austria,  183,  534 
Avshars,  39,  101 

Bagdad,  23,  181 
Baiburt,  412 
Barbarossa,  174 
Barnum,  Dr.  H.  N.,  428 
Barton,  Clara,  512,  551 
Bedouin  Arabs,  39,  99 
Beirut,  163,  303 

Berlin,  Treaty  of,  117,  255,  332,  561 
Bible  House  in  Constantinople,  248,  319, 
512 

Bibles  Destroyed,  525 
Birejik,  470 

Bismarck’s  Famous  Dictum,  561 

Bitlis,  122,  368,  386,  472 

Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  Missions,  318 

Bosnia,  250,  256 

Brewer,  Justice  David  J.,  512 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  302,  320 

Bryce,  Mr.  James,  561 

Bucharest,  Congress  of,  205,  212 

Bulgaria,  233,  249,  255,  388,  393,  534 

Bulgarian  Church,  141 

Bulgarian  Massacres,  267 

Bulgarian  Question,  330 

Byron,  Lord,  216 

Byzantine  Empire,  67,  164 

Caliphate  Assumed  by  Turkish  Sultan,  171, 

Capitulations,  185 

Carlowitz,  Peace  of,  178,  194 

Catholic  Mission  Convents,  262 

Catholic  Missions  Established,  190 

Catholicos,  119 

Censorship,  282,  357 

Cesarea,  340,  466,  476,  490 


(570 


INDEX. 


572 

Chaldeans,  40,  146,  157,  318,  533 
Charles  V,  185 
Chosroes,  109 
Christian  Sects,  64 
Christian  Worship  Prohibited,  495 
Church  Missionary  Society,  320 
Circassians,  39,  100,  120,  407,  532 
Cleveland,  President,  385,  549 
Communal  Rights,  168 
Constantinople,  Capture  of,  165 
Copts,  158,  267 
Crete,  256 

Crimean  War,  242,  415,  542 
Churches  Become  Mosques,  493 
Cyprus,  176,  258 

Cyprus  Convention,  257,  561,  563 
Czar  Nicholas,  384 

Damascus,  245,  357 
Death  Penalty  for  Apostasy,  63 
Dersim  Kurds,  390,  415 
Dervishes,  95 
Diarbekir,  148,  464,  490 
Disciples  of  Christ,  319 
Divan,  The,  175 
Dolma-Bagtche,  246 
Doria,  174 

Druzes,  39,  104,  245,  403 

Eastern  Rumelia,  256 
Eastern  Turkey,  529 
Edward  III,  259 
Egypt,  193,  220,  326 
English  Influence.  (See  also  Stratford  de 
Redcliffe.)  192,  397,  534,  561,  563 
Erzingan,  371,  398 
Erzrum,  94,  114,  350,  358,  386,  415 
Etchmiadzine,  119 
Euphrates  College,  427 
European  Turkey,  529 

First  Treaty  Between  Turkey  and  Europe, 
186 

First  Turkish  Parliament,  253 

Forced  Conversion,  483 

Foreigners  in  Turkey,  41 

France,  First  Treaty  with  Turkey,  186 

France  Supports  Russia,  562 

Francis  I,  183 

Franks,  188 

Free  Thought,  335 

French  Revolution,  206 

Georgia,  118,  176 


Gladstone  on  Turkey,  386,  394 
Greene,  Rev.  F.  D.,  372,  551 
Golden  Age  of  Turkish  Rule,  172 
Greece,  534 

Greek  Church,  131,  265 
Greek  Independence,  214 
Greek  Insurrection,  267 
Greek  Question,  330 
Greeks,  130,  293,  533 
Gregory,  the  Illuminator,  1 10 
Gumushkhand,  412 
Gurun,  464 

Haireddin  Pasha,  325,  565 
Hamidieh,  Kurdish  Cavalry,  97,  121,  369 
Harput,  122,  402,  427  477,  490,  516,  545 
Ilatti  Humayoun,  228,  243,  27 1,  279,  297 
3io,  347 

Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhan6,  228,  243,  268 

Herzegovina,  256 

Holy  Alliance,  177,  194 

Holy  Places  in  Jerusalem,  200,  270 

Holy  War,  556 

Hungary,  172 

Hunkiar  Iskellessi,  Treaty  of,  221,  228 
Huntchagists,  336,  344,  385,  393,  398,  448, 
557 

Italy,  534 

Jacobites,  39,  147,  309,  318,  474,  477,  533 

Janissaries,  165,  192,  218 

Jassy,  Treaty  of,  206 

Jebel  Tur,  148,  154 

Jeddah,  392 

Jerusalem.  See  Holy  Places,  also  538 
Jesuits,  163,  264, 

Jews,  40 

Kainardji,  Treaty  of,  182,  205,  240,  266 
Kars,  257 

Kayayan  (Prof.),  339 
Kiamil  Pasha,  400 
Kimball,  Dr.  Grace,  514 
Konieh,  68,  165 
Koran,  55,  294 
Kurdistan,  557 
Kurds,  39,  85,  146,  351,  474 
Kutturbul,  496 

Layard,  Sir  Henry,  154,  223,  245 

Lazes,  39,  106,  120 

Lebanon,  557 

Levantines,  42 

Louis  XIV,  178,  193 


INDEX. 


573 


Macedonia,  529 
Mahdi,  The,  62,  328 

Mahmud  II,  115,  172,  209,  222,  267,  293, 
300,  307,  565 
Malatia,  435,  522 

Marash,  386,  402,  448,  45  7»  476,  545 

Marco  Bozzaris,  215 

Mardin,  22,  146,  474 

Maronites,  39,  159,  245,  277,  309,  533 

Marsovan,  122,  337,  345,  349,  545 

Maynard,  Horace,  542 

Mehemet  Ali,  213,  220,  236,  268,  326 

Mesopotamia,  530 

Metawileh,  39 

Midyat,  150 

Mohammed,  51 

Mohammed  II,  166,  260 

Mohammedanism,  51,  81 

Mongols,  145 

Montenegro,  256 

Mosque  Schools,  282 

Mosul,  148,  318,  546 

Murad,  Sultan,  253,  282 

Mush,  368,  386,  472,  505 

Napoleon,  207,  535 
Napoleon  Code,  293 

National  Armenian  Relief  Committee,  512, 

551 

Naturalization  Treaty,  548 

Nestorian  Scholars,  152 

Nestorians,  40,  45,  146,  15 1,  309,  318,  533 

Nicomedia,  350,  389, 

Nusairiyeh,  39,  101,  318 

Osman  Pasha,  299 
Othman,  69 

Ottoman  University,  236 

Palace  Intrigues,  326 
Palu,  484,  522 

Pan-Slavist  Committee,  119,  331 
Paris,  Treaty  of,  242,  310 
Passarowitz,  Treaty  of,  196 
Patriarch  of  Antioch,  147 
Patriarch  of  Babylon,  157 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  123 
Persia,  152,  158,  176 
Peter  the  Great,  189 
Phil-Hellenism,  204,  216 
Poland,  192, 

Polygamy,  73 

Porte.  See  Sublime  Porte. 

Presbyterian  Board  of  Missions  (North),  163, 
317 


Rayahs,  153,  174 
Red  Cross  Society,  512,  551 
Reformed  Presbyterian  (Covenanter)  Mis¬ 
sion,  318 

Robert  College,  248,  312,  315 
Roman  Government,  166 
Rumania,  257 

Russian  Aggression,  207,  227,  241,  267 
Russian  Ambassador  in  Constantinople, 
I495>  l%3 

Russian  Armenia,  118 

Russian  Armenian  Agitators,  407 

Russian  Intrigues,  181,  203,  233,  277 

Saladin,  93 

Salisbury,  Lord,  397,  401,  405 
San  Stephano,  Treaty  of,  254,  257 
Sancta  Sophia,  133 
Saracens,  146 

Sassun,  384,  404,  479,  504,  556,  566 

Scio,  Island  of,  191,  215,  267,  547 

Scanderbeg,  1 70 

Scotch  Missions,  320 

Seraglio,  246 

Sert,  15 1,  476 

Servia,  170,  233,  256,  267 

Sheik-ul-Islam,  281,  297,  300 

Sherif  of  Mecca,  17 1 

Shiahs,  62,  88 

Sivas,  464 

Sis,  hi 

Softas,  298,  399,  480 
Sobieski,  177,  194 
Smyrna,  303 

Statistics  of  Massacres,  553 
Straus,  Oscar  S. ,  542 

Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  Lord,  191,  210,225, 
234,  238,  240,  268 
Sublime  Porte,  281,  300,  399 
Suleiman  the  Magnificent,  171 
Sultans  as  Caliphs,  167,  294 
Sunnis,  62,  88 
Suez  Canal,  327 
Sweden,  Treaty  with,  199 
Syria,  245,  530 

Syrian  Protestant  College,  163,  248,  312, 

317 

Syrians,  145,  267 

Tamerlane,  152,  165 
Tarsus,  393 
Tartars,  145 

Terrell,  A.  W.,  513,  520 
Thoumaian  (Mr.),  339 
Tilsit,  Peace  of,  208 


INDEX. 


574 

Trebizond,  406,  476 
Turcomans,  39,  447 
Turkish  Relief  Commission,  504 
Turkish  Version  of  the  Bible,  76 

Ulemas,  174,  213,  281,  298 
Uniat  Chaldean  Church,  153 
Uniats,  159 

United  Armenian  Church,  163 
United  Presbyterian  Board,  159,  318 
Urfa,  109,  148,  460,  476,  487,  546 

Vakouf,  283 

Van,  22,  368,  386,  415,  472,  514 


Venetians,  170,  189 
Vienna,  173,  177 

Wallace,  Gen.  Lew,  542 
Wallachia,  164,  170,  267 
William  of  Orange,  178 

Yezidis,  102 

Young  Turkey  Party,  60,  343,  394,  564 
Yuzgat,  337,  340,  349,  365 

Xeibecks,  39,  101 

Zeitun,  45,  122,  386,  448,  456,  459 


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DATE  DUE 


